The Price of Perfection
by xxpipxx
Summary: Mara Jaffray was happy. Mara Jaffray had finally gotten it right. Jerome Clarke needed to get over it.  JARA
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE**

Mara Jaffray was unhappy. But back then, she certainly didn't _know _that she was unhappy, and she wouldn't admit it to herself until much later on. Back then, Mara Jaffray thought she was the happiest girl in the world.

Back then, on one particular night, where this story starts, Mara stayed awake for hours, too excited to sleep. She lay there reminiscing about the evening, how Mick had taken her to dinner, how Mick had held her hand on the way home, how he had lightly pressed his lips to hers before they went to bed. It had been the perfect night, and now she had Mick, gorgeous Mick Campbell as her perfect boyfriend. She already had the perfect grades, the perfect family...and although it's impossible for someone to have the completely perfect life, right now Mara Jaffray's was pretty damn close.

On the other side of the story, Jerome Clarke was also unhappy. But he knew it, and although he wouldn't admit it to others, it would eat him up inside, day by day. He too couldn't sleep on that night, but it wasn't due to the exhilaration or adrenaline that Mara was feeling, it was due to sorrow. Mara had finally gotten what she wanted, and although it made her life all the more perfect, it made Jerome's worse. Unlike Mara, he was nowhere near having a perfect life. His parents hated him, and although he did well in school, his reputation as a liar and a prankster made him somewhat distrusted amongst both staff and students. The only thing that would have made his life anywhere close to being considered perfect, or even decent, was the one girl who had turned him down.

Mara Jaffray was happy. Mara Jaffray had finally gotten it right. Jerome Clarke needed to get over it.

**Hello :)**

**I decided not to do a sequel to "A Change of Instinct", because I felt I'd left it at a good place, and I didn't think I could think up any follow up ideas to do it justice. **

**This is an introduction to a potential new story, will return to Mara/Jerome POV's in the next chapter. Please let me know what you think! **


	2. Chapter 1

**Mara POV**

I barely got an hours sleep. My mind was whirring, going over the events of the night again and again and again. Mick. Mick Campbell. Mick Campbell..._my _boyfriend. The title didn't seem plausible in my head. I'd thought it would never happen, I thought he'd be with Amber forever, living a life on 'looking good in photos together'. But this just proved Mick had more than just his good looks, he obviously wanted something more out of a relationship, and for a reason yet unknown, he liked _me._ Me. Mara Jaffray, the shy science geek. It was a bad rom-com waiting to happen, but I loved the fact I was living it.

Amber had been right. _Everyone _fancied Mick Campbell. He could have had his pick of cheerleaders, pretty blonde girls. They practically fell at his feet. I was stunned at the idea that maybe for once in my life, people might be jealous of me. No one had ever been jealous of me before. This could well be the first day of the rest of my life, and what a good life it was.

I woke up with a jolt, despite the absence of sleep. Patricia smirked at me, having been told everything the night before. She didn't really care, that was obvious.

"Really, Mara?" she had said. "He's bad news, just get over him!"

I'd barely heard her. It wasn't true anyway, she'd just never been very supportive of the idea of me and Mick as a couple. But at least she seemed to appreciate that I was happy, which was good. She was a good friend.

After running down the stairs, I arrived at breakfast, where Mick, Jerome, Fabian and Nina were sat. It looked slightly awkward.

"What you so smug about, Jaffray?" Jerome said slightly maliciously.

Ah, Jerome. Back to his old ways. It was hard to believe there'd been that brief period where he'd actually been nice, he'd been social, he'd talked about his past. That all changed pretty much the instant Mick got back, and I'd never understood why, though I'd never asked. Jerome was an enigma to everyone, no one had any clue what was running through his mind, and when for a moment I thought I was getting it, he switched personas once more, and I was baffled.

"Life is good, that's all," I replied, shooting a quick grin at Mick, who replied with an equally big one.

"I have anything to do with that?" Mick said cheekily, and I giggled.

"Maybe..." I said, raising my eyebrows, and ignoring the sick noises Jerome was making.

Me and Mick stared at each for a second, before Jerome's voice broke the silence that had engulfed the room.

"Seriously, Mara? _Campbell_? I thought you'd have learnt your lesson after that little scheme he pulled. Never knew he was a conniving cheat, did you?"

"Watch your tongue Clarke, you're not one to talk!" Mick cut in, angrily.

"Ah, touché Cambell, touché, though I wasn't talking to you. Nice that you don't let your girlfriend speak up for herself, or are you worried she may agree with me?"

"Oh shut _up_ Jerome!" I said angrily, shooting him a vicious glare. "We don't need your stupid little opinions!"

That wiped the sneer right off his face. He shot us one more disgusted glance, and then turned to fully engross himself in laughing at Alfie, who had just walked into the room with his school blazer on inside out.

**Jerome POV**

_Just laugh. Just laugh along with the rest of the room, and pretend that you're not bothered by it, that you're not bothered by her. Pretend that it didn't hurt._

But it did hurt. I'd hardly ever heard an angry tone come from her mouth, but here it was, and it was directed fully at me. She hated me, that much was clear. I'd somewhat lost her as a friend when I'd asked her out that time, when Mick came back, when she –like everyone else- had abandoned me. I guess you could say it was my fault. My fault for saying nasty things about Mick, for continually trying my best to break them up...well I was paying for it now. Mara had finally deemed me worthless.

I could have been nice to her. I could have been accepting of Mick and kept her as a friend, but I couldn't. Mick Campbell had always angered me, how he would sail through life on his looks and sport skills alone. He never needed anything else, and he had girls falling for his apparent 'charm' everyday. None of them saw what was really underneath his mass of blonde hair, but I did. In fact, most of the guys at school did, which was way he was deemed the 'ladies man'...he just didn't have many guy friends outside of the football pitch.

And now, when I had to watch her look at him like that? It was beyond painful, but I had to let it slide, I had to at least give the impression that I wasn't bothered by it. That was why I'd made those snide comments, why I'd opened my mouth and let the harsh comments come out. It was what I'd have done before, it was what I'd have done to anyone else, so I did it to her. If she didn't know how I really felt, then it would be easier. Because I knew what would happen if she knew that I liked her. She'd feel horribly guilty, the others in the house would find out, give me sympathetic looks, and it would make me feel _worse _than I was already feeling.

"Nice look you've got there Alfie!" I said, breaking back into reality and laughing along with the others. Alfie looked confused, checked out his clothes, and then laughed along with us.

"Well, you know me," he said as he flipped it the right way round. "Always striving to do something different!"

Alfie knew about Mara. Well, at least he _did_, he'd guessed back at election time. But he probably thought I was over it by now, like with every other girl I'd gone for. A year ago, being shot down by a girl wouldn't affect me, I'd have just smiled and moved on the next one.

But things change in a year.

Throughout the day, I found myself always sitting annoyingly near to Mara and her meathead boyfriend. I would have to listen to them say sickening comments...

"Mick, I had a _really_ nice time tonight!"

Or "I'll miss you when I'm training later babes!"

Or "I'm so _lucky _ to be going out with you!"

Every time I was exposed to this, I couldn't help but clear my throat and mime being sick when they turned around. And every time I did, Mara would glare at me with sheer passion. I was really pushing my luck, but I didn't care. Seeing them together hurt so damn much, that mocking it was the only thing that made it slightly bearable.

**Mara POV**

Jerome had been doing my head in. It would have been a perfect day otherwise, hanging out with Mick, finding out I had got an A on the last biology essay. It all made for a brilliant day, but then there was Jerome, always nearby to make rude little comments or gestures. It had put a downer on the whole day, that was for sure, but he never gave up.

It got worse later on, when Mick headed off for football practice, and I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"What do you want Jerome?" I asked without looking. I knew it was him, back to annoy me some more.

"Just wondering if you needed some company, now Mick's abandoned you and all..."

"He hasn't abandoned me, he'll be back in an hour. Don't be so melodramatic." I said, finding it hard to conceal the anger in my voice.

"Touchy much? Was only a joke Mara!"

"Well everything's a joke to you, isn't it Jerome?"

I was beginning to lose my temper with him. It wouldn't normally have happened, I _never _lost my temper with anyone, but he'd been pushing it all day. When he looked confused, I carried on.

"It doesn't matter about how other people feel does it? As long as you get some amusement out of it? What happened to other Jerome? He wasn't like this, he was kind!"

"I told you before Mara, I am _not _kind."

And then he walked away.

**Jerome POV**

I could be kind. I could easily be kind. But I could never be kind to Campbell, and I could never be kind about their relationship.

Listening to her ranting at me, it would have been easy to stop her, explain how I felt. But that wouldn't solve anything, I had to be man up and deal with this, in my own way. And if that meant being cruel to her and isolating myself from my feelings, then that was what I was going to do.


	3. Chapter 2

**Mara POV**

The afternoon with Mick had been lovely. Perfect, if you ignored the small incident when he headbutted me by mistake.

And now I was back in my room, working hard on the scriptwriting work Mr. Winkler had set us. It was a pretty simple homework, we'd been given the outline for a scene, and had to write a script for it. Everyone was writing a different scene, so when it all came together we'd have a play which we could perform if we wished.

I'd already written mine two days ago, but it still wasn't right. After three redrafts, numerous checks and edits, it _still _missed something. I was desperate for mine to be the best scene. Not that I wanted to steal anyone's thunder, but after all the effort that I'd poured into this scene, I felt I deserved it. And Drama wasn't exactly my strongest subject. It was one of those classes where Alfie and Patricia excelled, they were the drama queens, and they didn't get embarrassed about acting like an idiot in front of people. I did. So it was assignments like this that helped me boost my grade. That was why this scene had to be completely and utterly perfect.

But tonight, I couldn't get it. And it was because I was feeling guilty. Guilty over how I'd spoken to Jerome. It was his fault really, he was the one making little snide remarks, and it was a cruel thing to do... but I never spoke to anyone like that, and I shouldn't have yelled at him.

"Still working hard, brainiac?" Patricia said as she walked back in the room.

"Yeah. This drama homework is driving me crazy!"

"Didn't you finish that ages ago?"

"Well it's all written, if that's what you mean."

"Then why on earth are you still writing?"

"Because it needs to be perfect."

Patricia just rolled her eyes. She didn't get it. I didn't expect her too. This was just me, and some stupid compulsive desire for things to be as good as I could possibly get them. I was bright, I knew that, but I felt that the reason I always got such high marks was because I worked so hard to get them.

**Jerome POV**

Alfie and I were lying in wait. Unfortunately, the wait had been going on for quite a long time, and I was hideously bored.

Fabian was today's target. Alfie and I had spent a good half hour tying tiny threads to various objects on his shelves. We were now led underneath his bed, which was cramped to say the least, threads in hand, ready to start havoc when he finally made an entrance.

"I still think we should have hidden in our room," I muttered angrily. The floor wasn't exactly comfortable, and we'd been here a good half hour.

"He might have seen the strings then!" said Alfie, who was far more excited about this prank than I was. Though then again, I needed some cheering up, so maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

"This'll be awesome," he continued. "I can't wait to see the look on his face!"

"Me neither..." I murmured, momentarily lost in thought. Mick wasn't here. Why? Because he was out with Mara, out with _my _Mara...

"Dude, quit moping around. This is a _killer _prank!"

So he _had_ noticed...

"Sorry mate, just stuff on my mind, you know?"

"Wait a second. You're not still moping around after _Mara _are you?"

_Lie. It's the only thing you can do._

"What, Mara? Nah, that was just a phase...a momentary lapse of judgement...you know me Alfie, I've moved on, plenty more fish in the sea! There are _loads _of potential girls out there, all waiting for me to find them..."

"You wish dude!" he said, laughing, and I laughed back, punching him on the arm gently. "But I bet they'll be tonnes of girls at Amber's party tomorrow!"

"Party?"

"Yeah, Amber bought a new dress and needed an occasion to wear it."

I scoffed. That was so typically Amber.

"Great. It'll be totally pink, judging by my luck..."

Alfie didn't reply, and when I glanced at him (which was pretty difficult judging by how cramped we were) he was looking dreamily into space. _Amber._

He soon snapped out of it though, when the door opened. But it wasn't Fabian, this time it was Mick, looking all smug after his date. _The arrogant little..._

I looked at Alfie, and nodded quickly. Even the best of pranks had backup plans. When Mick's back was turned, I yanked at one of the threads in my hand, and a book flew off Fabian's shelf. Mick turned his head in surprise, seeing nothing but an empty room, and a copy of 'Wonders of the Universe' lying on the floor. He turned away again, and Alfie sent a pencil case crashing to the ground.

Mick just looked stunned, so we let hell break loose. We sent everything crashing down, books, little boxes, models...and Mick just stared with wide eyes. Alfie was right, this _was _fun. And it was made even better when Fabian almost ran in the room a second later.

"Hey, Mick, what happened? And why is my stuff everywhere? What have you _done_?"

"It wasn't me Fabian, I swear. They just flew off by themselves!"

It was the perfect moment. Mick still looked slightly spooked, Fabian looked slightly annoyed, and like Mick had gone completely insane...it was only when Alfie let out a muffled laugh that they both twigged.

"Alfie? Jerome? What are doing underneath my bed?"

"Time to go..." I muttered, and we awkwardly shuffled out from under the bed, hi fived dramatically, and ran out the door laughing.

Fabian at least seemed to find it a tiny bit amusing, though he was pretty mad about having to de-thread all his belongings. Mick on the other hand, was pretty furious, and throughout dinner shot us murderous glances. I was still in disbelief that he actually thought things were falling off the shelves of their own accord. _Are you really surprised? The guy's an idiot._

Mara wasn't there at dinner. I was dying to ask, but I couldn't. The immediate follow up question would be 'why do you care?' and I couldn't exactly answer that without giving everything away. Mick didn't seem to care, though more likely he just didn't seem to notice.

"Oh, where's Mara this evening?" Trudy asked suddenly, and I thanked her in my head.

"Just in her room, working I think." Patricia replied, and no one seemed to think anything of it.

Sure, Mara was always working, but I couldn't help but wonder if that was just a lie. Because girls always did weird things like that, cover each other when one of them was upset or something. Was Mara upset? Was Mara upset because of me?

A wave of guilt flashed through me, and I then got annoyed with myself. I shouldn't be worrying about her, she wasn't mine to worry about.

**Mara POV**

I was still toiling over my script when Jerome barged in.

"What do you want?" I asked matter-of-factly. I was stressed, and although I didn't want to take anything out on him, surely he'd done enough for one day?

"Just checking that you're not dead." He said with a smirk.

"No, I'm fine thanks, just finishing this off for ."

I really thought he'd just go away, I wanted him to. But he walked over to my page, and snatched the notepad from me.

"Hey!" I said angrily, but he didn't notice, he just skimmed through everything that I'd written.

"Looks pretty finished to me." He said, handing it back.

"It has to be perfect..." I mumbled. _Please just leave me alone._

"Why?"

I was a little stunned. I hadn't expected him to ask that.

"Because it does. I won't be happy until it's perfect. Now if you don't mind, I need to finish..."

I gestured towards the door, and he started towards it.

"It's impossible though."

"What?"

"For something to be perfect. No one can be perfect."

"Maybe _you _can't..." I murmured, but he heard me, sighed, and slammed the door on his way out.

Desperate to prove him wrong, I worked even harder, though his words rang through my ears all night.


	4. Chapter 3

**Jerome POV**

Her name was Katrina, and she liked the colour blue.

But that came later.

Back after I'd checked in on Mara, I was angry, and a little upset. I knew my life wasn't great. That was something I accepted, I accepted that my parents didn't want me, I accepted that because of that people didn't trust me, but I at least _tried _to have a good life. And no, my life would never be perfect, nor could anyone's...but the way Mara had said that...it hurt. 'Maybe _you _can't...maybe _you _can't...'. I didn't know why she was obsessing so much about that stupid drama homework, but it was slightly weird. And then she made it quite clear that she thought I was worthless. _Well, everyone else thinks so. She was bound to think that in the end._

I walked past Mick on the stairs, but I controlled myself. I looked straight ahead through gritted teeth, and didn't make a cruel remark, and I didn't glare. I heard him knock on Mara's door, and it opened a few seconds later.

"Hey babe, I'm having trouble with this drama script, can you help me with it tomorrow?"

I rolled my eyes. Mick asked for too much sometimes, and I knew that Mara was likely to toil over Mick's scene as much as she had been with her own. Mr. Winkler would notice the similar styles. I was sure of it. But that was Mick's problem, and Mara's too if she was stupid enough to devote so much time to Mick's academic career. _Though, it's the only way he's gonna get out of this place with decent A levels, that's for sure. _

**Mara POV**

I was happy to see Mick at my door that night. I thought it was Jerome again, which made it even nicer to see Mick's smiling face. Smiling. That's something Jerome should learn about. Mick kissed me lightly on the cheek, and my heart leapt as per usual. We agreed to work on Mick's drama work tomorrow lunchtime, and I was more than happy to do it. It was the only thing Mick struggled with, academic work. He had everything else, looks, charms, he was athletic...and although he was amazing as he was, I couldn't help but think how he'd have the whole package if he got higher grades...

So I agreed to help him, and that I did. The next day rolled around, and we spent the first half of lunch writing together, and it was looking good.

"Oh man!" Mick said suddenly, slapping his hand to his head in annoyance.

"Mick? What is it?"

"I have basketball practice! I'm so sorry babes!"

He gave me a rushed kiss, and then ran out the door, leaving me alone with his half finished drama scene.

I carried on with it. Not so much writing it, but just jotting down ideas, things people could potentially say, things like that. It wasn't like I was doing it for him, but it had to be done by Monday, so there was only the weekend left, and it wouldn't hurt if he got a bit of a push.

Five minutes past, and I heard an exasperated sigh from behind me.

"Mara, it's lunchtime. Do you know what that means? It's when you take a _break _from working!" Jerome said with a scoff, and he peered over my shoulder. "Are you _still _doing your stupid drama scene?"

"No." I said automatically, which was true. It wasn't mine, it was Mick's. But then I realised that if I told him that, he'd think me even stranger. "I mean yes..."

He didn't buy it. I was a terrible liar, and you only had to think back to that awful hedgehog incident for solid proof of that. He leant over even more, and read the name at the top of the page.

"Mick's? Oh please tell me he's not got you doing homework for him!"

"I was helping him with it, and he just left actually. And it's none of your business anyway!" I shot back.

"It's pathetic. _Mick's _pathetic." He said, then looked slightly guilty about it. _So he damn well should._

"Oh shut up, Jerome!" I said angrily. He'd done it again, twice in two days now he'd made me this angry. "I know you don't like Mick, but keep it to yourself! No one else cares, and besides...it's only because you're jealous!"

He looked stunned. I didn't know what possessed me to say that, but I was _angry_. I was really angry. I didn't really think he was jealous of Mick, but it came out, and I wasn't exactly going to take it back, not now.

"Jealous? Of Campbell? Yeah right, Mara. I'll leave you to slave away over his work..."

He walked away, but turned after a few steps.

"Oh, and Mara? There's no way you can get Mick to be perfect either, if you're trying."

Now I was the one to be stunned. It was like he had read my mind without even trying. Jerome just smirked again, and walked away. _Like the enigma that he was..._

**Jerome POV**

Amber's party. It was pink, as expected, and extremely dull.

To be honest, I was still fuming from my conversation with Mara. How on earth could she think I was jealous of Mick? He was a meathead! I had nothing to be jealous of, as far as he was concerned! _Apart from one thing. He has Mara. And you don't._

But still, it had made me angry. And she was there, doing his homework for him? I mean, helping him every night was one thing, but when he wasn't even there? _Honestly Mara, you know better than that. _

To tell the truth, I was worried about her. She'd spent every waking second possible working on some assignment or project or another. And they were already at a standard good enough to get top marks...but still she wrote more, or edited it, or changed parts... It was ridiculous, but I knew why she was doing it. She wanted it to be _perfect_. And that was impossible. Nothing's perfect. And she was giving herself more stress by even trying, because I knew that nothing she did would be at the standard she wanted it to be at. It was a vicious circle, but it would just keep going. I had a feeling she wouldn't stop until everything in her life was perfect. Which would never happen.

She was here on her own, Mick was still out at some sports practice or another, but he'd probably be back soon, and make this party even worse.

However, the party was made worse long before Mick came home.

As I said before, her name was Katrina, and she liked the colour blue.

I only knew this because she was decked out completely, head to toe in blue. It was a bit too much. But I didn't even notice this, or her, until Alfie walked towards me, holding her by the arm.

"Dude, meet Katrina," he said, and then mimed the words 'go for it!' behind her.

"Like the hurricane, right?" I said. Ha, nice one Jerome.

At that moment, Alfie grabbed me by the arm, mumbled a quick 'be right back' to the girl, and took me a few metres away.

"Dude, what the hell was that? She's a nice girl, and may _actually _talk to you! Now that you're over the whole Mara scenario, you need to get back in the babe race, now go for it!"

He shoved me back towards her, and she looked slightly bemused. I started to panic. I certainly didn't want to go after some random girl, the only person I wanted to go out with was Mara. But she was with Mick, she didn't want me, she probably hated me. And how could I explain it to Alfie if I didn't make a move on this girl?

I decided to do what I usually did. Obvious lies, cheesy pick up lines. They had driven away every girl that I'd tried it on, so it would work on this one too. Alfie wouldn't be surprised if it happened, it had happened plenty of times before, and then I could look like the victim, and stay as I was.

So I talked to the girl, used my infamous lines, such as 'Do you have a plaster? Cause I scraped my knee when I fell for you.' But she didn't slap me, or walk away in disgust. She laughed. _Laughed._ She wasn't supposed to laugh, she was supposed to think I was a freak, that I came on too strong, that I was desperate. That's what all those other girls thought. But not her. She thought I was funny. _And now she probably thinks you like her as well, nice one Jerome._

I tried all my worst moves, but she seemed to find each one funnier, and she got more enthusiastic and animated as the night went on. I tried all the tricks that other girls had used against me, but nothing worked. She seemed genuinely interested, which was ironic, because a month ago I'd have totally gone for it, but now, it was the last thing that I wanted.

At least, as the end of the night rolled around, I realised that as I'd never seen her before around school, I may never see her again. It would be easy. Only when I'd said goodbye, and she'd left the house, did Alfie find me two minutes later.

"Hey, dude! Katrina just said she had a great time talking to you, so I gave her your number, hope that's cool. Good work bro!"

He patted me on the shoulder, and I groaned. This was going to be harder than I'd anticipated.

**Thanks to all reviewers :)  
>To clarify, this is most definitely a JARA story, there will absolutely be no JeromexOC nonsense :) <strong>


	5. Chapter 4

**Mara POV**

The words were echoing around my head.

"_No one can be perfect."_

"_There's no way you can get Mick to be perfect either."_

Back then, I swore he was wrong. I thought about my life, how everything was finally slotting into place. I was on the borderline of being perfect, and I could do it.

But I tried not to take Jerome's words too seriously. Anything he said now was probably just him trying to stir something up. He was definitely back to his old ways now. I'd seen him last night, chatting up some new girl like she was the first girl he'd ever liked. Not that he liked her, she was just pretty, and that was enough for Jerome. It was all in the act.

It was Saturday, meaning I had plenty of time to work on homework. Mick's drama script needed finishing, I wanted to do some more on my history project, because 40 pages probably wasn't anywhere near enough...

**Patricia POV**

Mara was panicking again. No idea why, but she was. Probably some stupid school work. Seriously, that girl needed to sort her life out. First Mick, now this obsessive homework thing? She may not realise it just yet, but she's making her life miserable.

**Jerome POV**

I didn't want to see her again. But it was all Alfie's fault.

That morning, the phone had rung. It was an unknown number, which meant it was probably Katrina. Why did Alfie have to give her my number? Why? She was nice enough, sure, but I didn't see her like that, and I definitely wasn't about to go and confess my love to her or anything stupid. I had planned on never seeing or speaking to her ever again.

It rang off, and I felt relieved, though Alfie chose that moment to barge back into our room.

"Was that your phone, dude? Hey! Was it Katrina? Obviously made a good first impression bro!" he said, and I sighed. "Why didn't you answer it?"

"Thing is Alfie, I'm not sure if Katrina's my type..."

"What? Jerome, we've been best mates for years, and _girl _is your type!"

"Yeah, but..."

"And she was hot, wasn't she?"

"Was she?"

Truth is, I hadn't even noticed. She was just a person to me.

"Dude, she was _really _hot! And in to you! Ask her out!"

"I dunno really, may not be the best idea..."

"Why not?"

_Because I want to be with MARA. Not Katrina. Not anyone else. Just Mara._

But apart from that, I didn't really have a good reason. A month ago, I'd have called Katrina begging for a date.

"Guess you're right..."

"I know! So go on then dude, call her back!"

So I did, begrudgingly, and talked to her through slightly gritted teeth, though she didn't notice. And when she asked to meet again tomorrow, Alfie nodded his head with such enthusiasm, and I had to say yes.

It was annoying, the way I now was developing a somewhat lie of a lovelife, based only on the fact that I couldn't admit who I really wanted to go out with. But that's the way my life worked. It wasn't happy, it wasn't almost perfect like Mara's apparently was. But at least, at least with this miserable experience, I might get some closure? I might get over Mara at least...

Actually, I didn't get over Mara at all, and the experience was more miserable than I imagined, but for now, that wasn't the issue.

Right now, my main issue was to stop Mara from overdoing it.

At breakfast, Mick and Mara were practically all over each other. He actually _fed _her a piece of toast, and it was ridiculous, and sickening.

"Other people trying to eat here you know." I murmured, just loud enough for them to hear, so I got a typical Mara eyeroll, and a typical Mick glare. But they stopped after that, so it was a tiny bit more bearable.

_Mara, why are you with him? Don't you realise how much of an idiot he is? There's no way he's good enough for you. You need someone who appreciates how incredible you are. Like me. ME._

But I doubted I'd ever get her. There she was, fawning over the school pretty-boy-football-star, like every other girl in this place. She was with someone who used to go out with_ Amber_...surely she realised what type of guy he was just by that? But for some reason she liked him, and after all the effort she'd gone to in the last couple of months to get him...well, it didn't look likely that she'd change her mind.

"Right, off for a run," said Mick, giving Mara a quick squeeze (_stupid meathead...) _and then heading out the door.

"So," said Alfie, addressing the now silent breakfast table. "What's everyone doing today?"

I shrugged, Nina and Fabian started whispering something to each other, and started making gestures to Patricia. Their little cult used to be the least of my worries, but now they'd dragged Alfie in, I was beginning to get a little curious. Though it probably wasn't anything interesting. Anything Amber was involved in probably wouldn't interest me in the slightest, and that was also probably why Alfie was there in the first place. Amber Millington.

**Mara POV**

The whispering ceased, and all of a sudden, Nina, Fabian, Patricia, Amber and Alfie left the room hastily, leaving just me and Jerome sat at the table. _Great._ I stood up, ready to head back my room to start on the mountain of homework.

"What about you brainiac, any plans?" Jerome said, and he stared at me so intensely it began to feel uncomfortable.

"Just, work, you know..." I said, turning away from him, but I still felt his eyes burning a hole in the back of my head.

"Oh no you don't..."

Before I knew it, Jerome had got out of his chair, walked towards me, and placed one hand on my lower back, and grabbed my arm with the other. He starting walking, leading me with him as he went.

"Jerome, what the hell are you doing!"

He didn't answer, he just kept walking. I was tripping over my own feet, and there was no point trying to get away. _What the hell was he playing at? _He led me outside, and only when we were a good 400 metres away from the house did he stop, but he kept his hand on my arm.

"Jerome, what are you doing? Let me go!"

"It's for your own good Mara."

_What?_

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you need to take a break. It's _Saturday_, and all you want to do is more school work, school work I suspect you've already finished. Am I right?"

"Ye-NO! It's not finished, and I'm not going to do it _all _day..."

"You're so _transparent _Mara! And if it's not your work, it'll be Mick's! Do you like being his little slave? Running around and doing all the things he's physically incapable of doing?"

"Leave it Jerome, it's none of your business. Why do you even care?"

I tried to pull away from him, but he was gripping my arm too tightly for me to escape. I settled for just glaring at him.

"I care because I notice things. I notice when things aren't right. And this stupid perfection thing? It's not right Mara, it's far from right!"

"You don't know _anything _about me!"

For a reason I couldn't quite comprehend, tears had started to leak from my eyes, and I suddenly felt raw and exposed. Jerome didn't know me, he couldn't say all these things. I wasn't doing anything wrong. I was living my life the way I was supposed to live it, I was doing everything the way I should. Jerome just didn't get that.

"Mara, I'm not trying to upset you! I'm trying to _help _you!"

"Help me? Oh please." I said angrily. "You don't want to help me, you just want to make my life a little bit worse! That's what you want, isn't it Jerome?"

"What? Mara, no..."

"You know, I really hate you sometimes."

**Jerome POV**

I let her go. I let her run back to the house, run back to Mick. That stung, that _really _stung.


	6. Chapter 5

**Mara POV**

That night was another night where I got no sleep.

I'd been feeling horribly guilty all day. I didn't hate Jerome. He drove me up the wall half the time, but I didn't _hate _him. And I thought he'd just return it back, spend more time making sarcastic comments, and wind me up even more...but he didn't. I didn't hear a word out of him for the rest of the day. When Mick arrived at dinner and kissed me hello, Jerome didn't even clear his throat or roll his eyes. He just sat there in silence, looking miserable. What had I done?

Mick had realised I had been upset.

"Mara, are you ok babe?" he had asked.

I couldn't tell him. I couldn't tell him I was upset due to the guilt of saying I hated Jerome. Mick would have laughed, maybe even congratulated me on tearing Jerome down a peg or two. And he may have questioned why I was so bothered by it. The truth was, even _I _didn't know why I was so bothered by it. Jerome shouldn't be the one I was worrying about. I should be worrying about all the things I needed to do today but couldn't because I'd been focusing on that conversation all afternoon.

And his face. His face when I'd released those awful, awful words... I expected him to come back with a cruel response, but he just let me go, looking absolutely _crushed_.

I should have known better. I don't know why he reacted so strangely, but it wasn't right. I was school representative, and what's more, I was Mara Jaffray. Mara Jaffray, who never had any enemies, who at least _tried _to be nice to everyone.

Tomorrow, I would apologise. He may not listen, but at least then I could get this off my chest.

**Jerome POV**

Sunday lunchtime, and I was with Katrina.

It was the so called 'date' that Alfie had so enthusiastically encouraged, and I had no excuse but to go. She was wearing blue again, and I almost laughed when I saw it, but I restrained myself. It was like an in joke between me and me, so I wasn't going to let on.

It was awkward. There was no point denying it, and to be honest, it was my fault. Though my new plan, because I couldn't exactly end it without good reason, was to tactfully encourage her to hate spending time with me. So she'd make conversation, and I'd nod along or just answer with concise answers, never asking her any questions in return, never making an effort to sustain a conversation. There were a lot of awkward silences, but she always seemed to have something to ask, something to talk about, so she got full marks for effort.

The whole meal, I kept thinking about how much I'd enjoy it if Mara was the one sitting opposite me, chatting animatedly about something or other that happened recently. She would be smiling, and her whole face would light up as she talked, as she laughed, as she..._cut it out Jerome. She's not your girlfriend. She's not even your friend. She hates you, remember?_

Yeah, yesterday had been pretty rough. I'd always known that I never really had a hope with Mara, but all the same, I kept a slight hope that she may like me even a little bit, but wasn't ready to admit it yet. But no, yesterday when those words came out of her mouth, it shattered every grain of hope I had in my body. If you hated someone, there's no way you'd want to even spend time with them... I sighed, life was pretty bad right now.

As soon as lunch ended, I made my excuses about homework and chores, and left Katrina as soon as I could. I felt bad, but she didn't seem upset. Quite the opposite actually. _Man this girl can't take a hint..._

I just wanted to get back to the house, get back to my room, continue to avoid Mara and maybe if I felt like it, plot something with Alfie. Scheming and Plotting always made me feel better.

I walked back to the house quickly, but walking through the hall with my head down obviously wasn't wise, as I crashed spectacularly into Mara. She shrieked as she fell to the ground, and out of habit I offered her a hand.

For a few moments, I forgot that she hated me. I forgot about all the things she'd said, I forgot that I was trying to avoid her, I forgot that I needed to get over her. I just pulled her slowly off the ground, not taking my eyes off of her.

_This 'getting over Mara' thing would be a lot easier if she wasn't so damn beautiful._

**Mara POV**

I was surprised at how easily Jerome pulled me off the ground. Actually, I was more surprised that he hadn't just left me there. _Mystery. Such a mystery Jerome. _ As I got to my feet, I noticed he was staring at me again, but not in an uncomfortable way. His eyes were soft, not harsh like they were yesterday, and he had an expression that I couldn't place upon his face. As I looked back at him, he shook his head quickly, as if he were awoken from a daydream, and then let go of my hand.

"Er, Sorry." He said, and then carried on walking, not meeting my eyes again.

I'm the one the needed to apologise...so I guess now was the time.

"Jerome, wait!" I called after him, and he turned around, his expression hard once more.

"What?" he said in that cold, emotionless tone. _He's hurt. He's hurt and it's your fault, Mara._

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

He just shrugged, and followed me silently into the living room. He sat on the sofa with me.

"Well?"

"Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for saying that I hated you, I don't."

He still didn't meet my gaze, but his expression softened slightly.

"And," I continued. "I'm sorry for snapping at you so much recently, I'm just a little bit stressed."

"I _know_." He said suddenly, making me jump. He turned his head to face me. "That's why I'm worried about you!"

I looked at him surprised, unsure of what to say. But he didn't continue, he didn't look angry, so I carried on.

"Um, yeah. I appreciate the concern, anyway. And I really am sorry, don't take any of it personally. And I don't hate you, promise."

He smiled at me, only a weak smile, but it was a smile. Not a smirk. No raised eyebrows, no cocky half smile, a _real _smile. And that was pretty unusual from Jerome.

"Thanks." He said quickly, flashing another little smile, and then getting up to leave the room quickly.

Well, I never counted on being best friends with the guy, but I felt a weight lift from my chest, and instantly felt more relaxed. It wasn't like he'd hugged me and said he forgave me, but from Jerome, it was practically that. That smile was confirmation that he wasn't upset with me, and all was well.

With that off my back, I could finally get down to work.

**Jerome POV**

The little light on my bedside clock flashed. Three a.m, and still wide awake. To be honest, I'd been thinking about Mara for most of the night. She didn't hate me, which was a relief. But I couldn't help but feel I'd let my guard down.

Of course, I'd always wanted to have let my guard down around her. But recently, it was just to protect myself. I didn't want to let my guard down and be myself when she was with Mick, when she obviously wasn't interested. I was only hurting myself, and that was practically my life motto. Don't let yourself get hurt. _Too late though Jerome, huh? Falling for her in the first place hurt enough..._

Talking to her earlier, I realised it had been the first time in weeks we'd spoken and it had been civil. No meathead boyfriend, no angry Mara. Civil.

But it couldn't carry on. She'd made her choice. I had to deal with it.

Fed up with all this emotional turmoil, I headed to grab a glass of water from the kitchen. Walking into the living room, I sighed. Mara was sat at the table, fast asleep, head on top of various books and papers. I guessed Patricia had made her relocate after lights out.

"Mara, Mara, Mara..." I whispered. "Just look what you're doing to yourself."

Taking advantage of her somewhat unconscious state, I carefully removed the piles of work from the table. There was the history project, which looked more than finished, her drama script, covered in crossings out and asterisks and several pages longer than it needed to be, and Mick's drama script of course, plus something that looked like Mick's algebra homework.

I was in disbelief. Not only that Mara would stand for this, and actually _do _his homework, but that Mick was low enough to let her. Seriously, what type of guy made his girlfriend do his work for them? Not a decent guy, that was for sure. Meathead guys. Mick, to be precise.

_Why are you with him again, Mara? Really?_

Then I came across the latest English essay from Mrs. Andrews, set only on Friday, with another week and a half to complete it. Mara had already written five pages, and I would place bets that it was already at a standard good enough to top the rest of the class. She could give it in right now, and Mrs. Andrew would be livid with appreciation, as normal with one of Mara's homework's.

But in Mara's eyes, this would be far from finished. She'd work on this for the next week and a half, and would never be happy. I sighed, this wasn't good at all.

But now, my focus was on the sleeping girl at the dining room table. I couldn't just _leave _her here. And yeah, it didn't help with the getting over Mara scheme, but this wasn't exactly something I could ignore. I'd be the biggest jerk in the world if I left her there all night.

So I carefully put my arms around her and lifted her up off the chair. She mumbled a tad, but didn't wake up, so I slowly walked up the stairs, being careful not to wake her up. When I'd finally made it to her room, and laid her in her bed (Patricia didn't even flinch), Mara woke up. Only slightly, but she woke up enough to notice what was going on.

"J-Jerome?" she mumbled softly, innocently, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Go back to sleep Mara," I whispered, and then left her, and headed back downstairs, where I piled all her books and sheets into a pile and put them on the coffee table, so to avoid them getting ruined at breakfast.

Except for the newly written English essay that was. That, I took with me, and stashed it away in my school bag.


	7. Chapter 6

**Ooops, accidentally uploaded an old chapter from 'Change of Instinct' for a second. Sorry to confuse people :L**

**Mara POV**

Waking up with a jolt, it took me a while to realise where I was. In my room, in my bed, which was normal, right? Apart from it felt _strange _somehow. I tried to piece together yesterday evening in my head. Dinner, homework, Patricia had told me to stop or go downstairs when it got to lights out, more work downstairs, and then...Jerome?

Now that I thought about it, I had a flash memory of Jerome's head hovering over mine as he told me to go to sleep. But it was so vague, it might have been a dream. _It was a dream. It had to be. Why would Jerome be in your room in the middle of the night?_

I guess I must have just come upstairs when I was tired, but I just couldn't remember. Yeah, that was probably right.

I shook it off, and got up and dressed for breakfast in a hurry. And as soon as I saw Mick, I forgot all about it. He kissed me hello, and I smiled widely, squeezing his hand under the table throughout breakfast. I didn't even notice that Jerome wasn't there.

"Come on Mara, we'll be late for school," said Patricia, slinging her rucksack over her shoulder.

"Yeah, just a second, I need to get my drama script from my room, it's in today." I replied, standing up. _And Mick's drama script. That too._

"Isn't that your stuff over there?"

She pointed to the coffee table, where there were a pile of books. _My _books. I would have brought them back up with me last night, surely? Unless Jerome really _was _in my room last night? Did he bring me to bed? Oh god, how embarrassing... Though it was a nice gesture anyway.

Patricia motioned for me to hurry up, so I grabbed the drama scripts and walked out the door, not checking the rest of the pile.

**Jerome POV**

It was boring being in school early. I didn't know how Nina and Fabian managed this all the time, but it was so..._empty._ I was sat in biology, but no one else was there yet, it was just me on my own in a deserted classroom. On another day I'd have put glue on the seats or something stupid like that to annoy everyone, but today, I was nervous.

Eventually, the rest of them filed into the class, full of animated chatter. Nina and Fabian were first (of course), and then...Mara. She walked into the room, settled herself down at her usual table, a couple away from the one I shared with Alfie and Patricia, and then briefly, she met my gaze. I smiled out of instinct.

_Fat lot of good the 'ignore Mara and move on with your life' plan worked, eh Jerome? _

In all honesty, I didn't really care about that plan anymore.

She looked a little confused, and opened her mouth as if she were about to ask me something, but she obviously thought better of it, and looked away.

_But she wasn't angry. She hasn't realised._

The day went on, and fourth period we were in English, Alfie and I sat behind Mara and Patricia as usual. I tapped my fingers repetitively on the desk, a nervous habit I'd picked up.

"Cut it _out_ Jerome! You're driving me ballistic!" hissed Patricia, as Mrs. Andrews explained today's class work. Annotation. Not too hard.

We'd all got started, and I saw Mrs. Andrews heading towards the back of the room.

"Mara?" she asked, and Mara's head shot up in surprise.

"Yes Mrs. Andrews?"

"I have to say I'm impressed, not only with the quality, but also with the time you took to complete it, just superb!"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about..."

Mrs. Andrews looked confused.

"The essay, reconciliation within the Tempest?"

I saw Mara's eyes visibly widen, and she looked utterly panic struck.

"But...but I haven't finished it yet!"

"Well, it was on my desk this morning when I arrived at school, here, I'll show you..."

She headed to her desk, and Mara shot a look to Patricia, though Patricia only shrugged. Mara's eyes were full of confusion, panic, and disbelief. She was shooting her eyes around the room, looking for a culprit...and then she looked at me, and noticed the small smirk in the corner of my mouth. _Busted._

She opened her mouth in brief realisation, and glared at me full on, but didn't have time to say anything, because Mrs. Andrews was back with Mara's essay.

"This is the one, isn't it Mara?"

"Well, yes it is, but..."

"Well I've no idea why you don't think it's finished. I'll have to mark it properly of course, but it looks on track for full marks. Excellent as usual, Mara."

She still looked shocked, still looked slightly angry, and now, even more confused. She didn't know how she'd managed to get such a high mark, when it wasn't right, it wasn't _perfect._ That had been why I'd taken it in the first place, to prove a point, to prove that she was good enough without obsessing over it for days.

Sure, she wouldn't change overnight, but it was a start. And right now, I just braced myself for the verbal bashing she was going to give me later.

**Mara POV**

Jerome had scarpered at the end of the lesson, and I hadn't seen him since. How could he steal my things? And how could he hand in homework when it wasn't finished? _What the hell was he playing at?_ I'd only spent a few hours on that, it was far from done! He could have got me a ridiculously low grade! Did he want to ruin my academic career or something?

Later, back at the house, I found him sitting alone in the living room. Try to run _now _Clarke...

He looked up, and smiled, though the hint of a smirk was still there.

"Afternoon, Jaffray," he said, turning back to the book he was reading.

"Jerome, you can quit the act. I know it was you."

"I don't know what you're talking about..."

"Don't try and deny it. You're the one who went through my things, stole my unfinished essay, and gave it in!"

"Mara, I was actually doing you a pretty big favour, even if you don't realise it."

"How? By trying to lower my English grades? Classy..."

He looked up at me properly, a look of sheer disbelief on his face.

"Lower them? Mara, are you deaf? Did you not hear Mrs. Andrews when she said you'd get top marks? Look at how impressed she was!"

"Yeah...well...but...it still wasn't good enough! It wasn't-"

"-perfect." He interrupted. "How many hours would you have spent toiling over that essay? For what? Perfection? I just saved you hours of time, a whole lot of stress, and I gave you a wakeup call. _You don't need to obsess over this!_"

In some ways, he had a good point. I would have spent hours over it, but now, with it handed in and with a high grade, I didn't need to. But it was a fluke, it wouldn't be the same for everything. It wasn't a wakeup call, it was luck. It's not like it would be the same for everything.

"Mara," he continued. "Please don't push me away. I'm genuinely trying to help you!"

"Please don't try. I don't need it. I'm _fine_, honestly." _I'm perfect, almost._

"You didn't seem so fine when you were passed out on the dining room table."

I flushed scarlet. So he _did _carry me up to bed, how humiliating.

"Yeah, sorry about that..."

"Don't apologize to me. _Thank _me. I saved you from pretty bad neck cramp, you know."

I blushed again.

"Yeah, thanks Jerome."

I forced a smile, though I was still trying to hide my embarrassment. I'd never had to be carried to bed before, and by Jerome? It was just _weird_.

"Anytime, Mara." He said with a smile, and then excused himself to head back to his room.

I just shrugged it off, and went to find Mick, just to say hello. He was never a mystery or an enigma, he was always the same kind, caring boyfriend he always was.

"Hey, babe," he said with a warm smile as he opened his door. "Come in for a bit."

I felt comforted sat on the edge of his bed, like this was home.

"Mick, I'm sorry, but I can't stay for too long. I have a lot of work I need to do tonight..."

"That's fine babe, I appreciate that. Though if you could, could you do me a huge favour?"

"What?"

"Well, there's this physics worksheet, and I've been trying and trying, but I just can't do it...could you help me to finish off the last couple of bits?"

He handed me the paper, and I looked at it. Last couple of bits, obviously meant the whole thing. He hadn't even written his name at the top.

"Mick, you haven't even started!"

He just shrugged his shoulders, and smiled his little cute smile. Almost impossible to resist.

"Mick, I really don't have time, it's in tomorrow, and..."

"Please, Mara! Please, just one favour, it's all I ask!"

He looked at me with pleading eyes, and I felt myself cave. It was Mick, and I'd be helping him...I couldn't say no.

"Ok then...well I guess we can go over some of the earlier questions now, and..."

"Great! Thanks Maraculous, I really appreciate it! I need to go out for a run before it gets too dark, but I'll catch you later, yeah?"

He left the room hastily, and I remained stunned. What had just happened? Had he left me to do his work? I felt angry, a little bit used, but...but I would do it of course. I couldn't do anything to harm our relationship, and not doing it would hurt Mick's grades...that would be horrible of me.

So I set to work, and all evening, I sat at the dining room table, scribbling away at various bits and pieces. There was so much to do, so little time... My history project was frustrating me. Nothing seemed accurate anymore, the dates were probably all wrong. In angst, I decided to tear up the last couple of pages and completely redo them. They were nowhere near good enough anyway.

People came and went from the room, and by 9:30, everyone was off doing their own thing, having fun in each other's rooms. Well, they may be having fun, but I was doing what I _should _do. I wouldn't regret putting in all this effort in a couple of years. Not at all. I was doing everything right. _Wasn't I?_

I sighed. I hadn't done anywhere near as much as I'd wanted. Mick's was done, but it had taken me ages, even though I'd done the same worksheet a week ago. And my algebra answers all seemed off, all seemed _wrong_. I stared at the pages, crossing out, re-writing, and then crossing out again. It wasn't good enough...none of it was good enough. None of it was perfect.

Eventually, the words became blurry, they merged into one, I couldn't read, I couldn't think...and I just broke down. Tears flooded down my cheeks, and I just sat there sobbing, all the stress that had built up finally being released. For several minutes I was alone, just crying my eyes out, until an arm snaked its way around my shoulders.

"Mara..." Jerome whispered, sounding scared and worried.

"Jerome..." I whispered, my voice barely audible behind the sobs.

That was the moment I realised that all along, he'd been right.

"Help me, please?"


	8. Chapter 7

**Jerome POV**

She'd finally understood. Or at least, she was starting to understand. At least she could see how much the stress of this was affecting her, and I'd get her through it. I would.

_But it's not like you've won. There's still Mick. She's still is girlfriend. Don't get cocky now..._

Yes, there was Mick. And yes, he was still an idiotic, using scumbag of a boyfriend, but for some reason Mara liked him. I hated him, and I wasn't about to hide that, but for now, I couldn't take it out on Mara. She meant too much to me, and she needed me right now.

I let her cry until her eyes finally ran dry, and she looked up at me with a weak smile. _Where was Campbell in a time like this, huh Mara?_ I didn't remove my arm from around her shoulders, I kept it there, like a friend would in a time of need. It was comforting, not creepy or over protective, and Mara seemed to appreciate this.

"You need to get some sleep Mara," I said softly as she blew her nose. "It'll be better in the morning."

"But I need to finish..." she said, pointing to the work in front of her. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. She wants help, but still didn't quite get _why._

"They're finished, Mara, trust me, now come on."

"But..."

"No. Come on."

I didn't let her protest, just marched her up the stairs, and made her promise to stay in bed, and not even _think _about returning downstairs. I believed her when she said she wouldn't.

**Mara POV**

Forget it happened. Just leave it and pretend it didn't happen.

Not many people had seen me cry. It had mainly been Mick or Patricia, not Jerome. Jerome wasn't the type of person you wanted to cry in front of, you knew he'd just laugh at you, or wind you up about it tomorrow. _Though he didn't laugh, did he? He stayed with you, he comforted you..._

Just like that, Jerome had almost gone back to being what I referred to as 'nice' Jerome, or 'new' Jerome. It was the Jerome that wasn't afraid to show who he really was, who didn't hide behind snide comments and cruel mockery. It was the Jerome that I'd seen once before, back when Mick went away. It was the Jerome I actually _liked._

Though I knew he wouldn't always be like that. He'd make his comments, make his sick noises, and act like the prankster half the time. I didn't care too much, because I found his jokes and sarcastic quips amusing most of the time. _Most _of the time...

I did as he said, I slept. And I'll give it to him, he was right again. I really did feel better in the morning.

I gave Mick his physics homework in the morning, and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Thanks babe. You really are a star!"

And then he kissed me, quickly but sweetly, as always.

"Toast...coming back up..." Jerome gagged, and raised his eyebrows.

"You know Clarke, you're really starting to get on my nerves..." Mick threatened, but for once I wasn't bothered with it, because Jerome had flashed me a brief smile, and I realised that it was only a joke. He'd have done it to anyone.

"That's the difference between you and me, Mick. See, you started to get on my nerves a _long _time ago."

"Shut up." Mick said. "All this is only because you're jealous that I've got a girlfriend, and you don't!"

"Hey!" Alfie butted in. "Jerome _has _got a girlfriend!"

The conversation in the room stopped dead. Everyone looked at Jerome in surprise, me included. He had a girlfriend? Since _when?_ Even Jerome looked surprised at the outburst, and he went white.

"Er...no I don't..." he muttered, shooting a glare at Alfie.

"Sure you do! Katrina!"

"Katrina? Who's that? What's her last name?" Patricia asked with a scorn. Jerome's eyes widened.

"Er...I don't know." Jerome said, and the room laughed.

"You don't know? You don't know your own girlfriends last name?" Patricia asked, looking genuinely baffled.

"Look, she's not my girlfriend alright? We just went to lunch once. Now leave it."

Jerome looked angry, and the rest of us looked confused. Jerome on a date? Jerome with a girl? It didn't seem to add up, it wasn't something that happened regularly, if at all. Girls usually shot Jerome down in a second, but I guess finally he'd found someone. Good for him, I guess.

Over the course of the conversation, I experienced a strange feeling. I ignored it at the time, but in a few weeks time, I'd realise that it was a tiny pang of disappointment.

**Jerome POV**

I hadn't spoken to many people all day, as every time I'd seen someone from the house, they'd raise their eyebrows and make some sort of 'secret girlfriend' comment. Amber seemed positively ecstatic, and followed me around for ten minutes asking me for details, (because a secret love 'was like _so _totally romantic!').

The truth was, I was annoyed with Alfie was mentioning her. I only went on that date to try and detach myself from Mara, and because Alfie practically forced me to. I didn't enjoy myself, and I felt guilty for leading Katrina on. And now Mara knew. Now Mara knew about Katrina, great. _Not like she liked you or anything though, not like it made the slightest bit of difference. She's probably happy for you..._

So I felt like I'd been avoiding people all day. I'd slunk off the house without anyone following me or asking me questions, and I'd stopped outside Mick's door when I heard voices.

"Mara, because you got such high marks on that essay you did for Mrs. Andrews, do you think you could help me with mine? Essay's have never been my, you know, strong point..."

_What is your strongpoint, huh Campbell? NOTHING._

"Well, I don't mind giving you a little bit of help...but I can't _do _it for you..."

Good, Mara, good.

"Well, yeah, that's fine...though I really don't know _anything _about the Tempest. I'm at a bit of a loose end..."

"Well, you must have _some _ideas for the essay? We spent weeks reading it and making notes!"

"Truth be told babes, I didn't really follow it. I couldn't even tell you what the story was."

I felt myself glare, even though I was outside the door. _Who treats their girlfriend like this? _

"Well, you can't expect me to do the whole thing for you!"

"But you did it with the drama script and the physics sheet! Why is this any different?"

"Mick, I'm sorry but..."

"...it's not _that _much to ask! I thought you liked helping me? And I might not even _pass _English at this rate. You don't want that, do you?"

"Well, no, but..."

"And I'm lucky to still be at this school, remember? I almost got expelled because of you!"

My fists clenched. Playing the guilt card. Classy Mick, classy. How dare he? He was treating his own girlfriend like dirt, and he didn't even realise how much this relationship meant to her. _Meathead scumbag..._

There was a silence in the room. I heard a sigh, but I wasn't sure who from, and then some rustling noises. I walked back to my room, where I hid in wait until the door opened, and Mara walked out. Holding a blank piece of paper with Mick's name at the top. _Mara, please tell me you didn't...?_

I probably should have resisted. I probably should have gone to Mara first, and talked her out of it. But I was angry, _really _angry. And I couldn't let Mick get away with a stunt like that. So he was first, then Mara.

I walked in without knocking.

"Hey Fabian...oh, it's you. What do you want?" he said, scowling when he saw it was me.

"You know, I didn't think you liked being known as a cheat, Campbell..."

"What are you talking about Clarke? I'm not in the mood for silly mind games."

"Getting your girlfriend to do your homework for you, that's really _nice_, don't you think?"

"You been spying on me?"

"That's not the point."

He was getting angry now, and to be honest, so was I.

"Mara's only helping me with some work, that's allowed isn't it?"

"Doesn't look that way to me though. And it sure _sounded _like you were guilt tripping her into it... Plus, after that whole French test incident, this is a bit hypocritical, don't you think?"

"Jerome, this is none of your business! Just get lost!"

"Gladly, but I haven't finished. You don't treat your girlfriend like that Mick, it's not on."

"My relationship does _not _include you! So get out of it! Why do you even care?"

"I care, because you too dumb and blind to tell that your girlfriend is miserable! She's spending all her time doing _your _work, and you don't even care that she hates it!"

"She's not miserable, she's fine!"

"Why don't you take a closer look next time you see her? Though you don't deserve her after all this!"

I didn't want to get into a fight with the guy, so I left rather than let my anger build up. As I gave him one last glare and slammed the door, my mind was racing. _I may not deserve a girl like Mara either, but I'd treat her damn better than he's doing._


	9. Chapter 8

**Mara POV**

Another homework assignment. Another homework assignment that wasn't mine. After the little breakdown last night, I didn't want it to happen again, and I knew that I shouldn't agree to this...but it was _Mick's._ Mick Campbell, the most amazing guy, and I was helping him, and he obviously really appreciated it... I probably _should _help him...

_And he'd be awfully mad if I didn't..._

I sat at the table, contemplating what to do. I guess I could always write down some ideas and themes in case that gave Mick enough of a start to do it himself? Yes, that's what I'd do.

"Don't even think about it Mara."

I jumped out of my skin, and turned around to see Jerome looking deadly serious, and a little bit annoyed.

"You want me to help you right? With the stress and obsessive thing?" he said again, and I nodded in confusion. "_This _is why you're stressed. Why on earth are you doing his work for him?"

"Well...he asked me really nicely...and...and he could really use some help...and..."

Truth was, there wasn't a good enough reason. I'd just been too afraid to say no.

"Mara, I heard your conversation with him earlier. He's guilt trippingyou!"

"No! Mick wouldn't do that!"

_Would he?_ He'd brought up the photo thing...and I'd felt awful...but he wasn't try to guilt me into doing this work...right?

"Mara, he _is _guilt tripping you. And it isn't right. Stand up for yourself, for god's sake!"

"But..."

I cut myself off, not wanting to share how I really felt with Jerome.

"But what?"

"But..." I sighed. "But he might break up with me."

Jerome looked at me as if I were insane.

**Jerome POV**

She couldn't see it. She couldn't see how miserable she was. She probably thought she was perfectly happy, just a bit stressed. Why couldn't she see how much of a controlling, guilt-tripping ass of a boyfriend Mick was being?

"Let me get this straight. You're worrying that if you don't do an essay for your boyfriend, after he's guilt tripped you into doing it, he'll end it?"

She looked sheepish.

"Yes?"

"Surely you don't want a boyfriend who's like that?"

"But Mick's so...amazing! And he's...well he's almost..."

"Mara, if you're going to say perfect, I won't be impressed."

She didn't say another word, and I groaned inwardly. _Why on earth would you think that?_

I sat down on the chair beside her, and made her look me in the eyes.

"Tell me Mara, why is this perfection thing such an issue? Why are you _doing _all this?"

"It's what I _should _be doing."

"Says who?"

"Everyone. I should be working hard to get the grades I need. Simple."

"Shouldn't you be happy?"

"I _am _happy."

I just looked at her with raised eyebrows, and she sighed.

"Well, I _will _be happy if I carry on doing all this."

"Mara, you need to be happy _now._ Go out, have fun! You're a teenager for goodness sake, enjoy your life! Don't be afraid to say no to people every once in a while!"

"But I can't..."

"Oh yes you can. Starting right now. Come on."

I didn't hesitate, because I knew she'd protest. Like I did the other day, I hoisted her up, and marched her out of the room, quickly pausing to make sure Trudy knew we'd be missing dinner. Mara didn't fight me as much this time, she only looked at me with an expression that seemed to say 'where the hell are we going?'

"Jerome, I can walk by myself..." she said after a couple of minutes, laughing slightly, and I let her go, half expecting her to run away, but she didn't.

After two minutes of walking, and realising that neither of us had anywhere in particular to go, we settled on food, and I took her to the same place I'd been to with Katrina a few days ago. _Not a date Jerome, don't get your hopes up or anything. She's only here cause you dragged her here._

**Mara POV**

I had no idea why I'd gone along with this. I had so much to do, and Mick wouldn't be pleased. Not only had I not started his English work, but I'd not started it to go out with Jerome. It felt strange, because I'd never really spent much time with Jerome when it was just him and me. It wasn't as bad as it could have been though. He steered the conversation away from anything work related, probably trying to stop me from thinking about it, but it didn't, and I still felt slightly on edge throughout the evening.

"So, tell me about Katrina?" I asked, curious.

"I don't want to talk about her." He said, and I was confused, though to be honest, slightly relieved. "She's not my girlfriend though."

I just nodded, unsure about what to say, but he broke the silence.

"But on the subject of that Mara, tell me about Mick?"

"What _about _Mick? You live with him, you know what he's like..."

"Yeah, but _why _Mick?"

"Well, he's sweet...and kind...and..."

Jerome just raised his eyebrows and smirked.

"Don't get me wrong Mara, I mean no disrespect...but he's not exactly and intellectual challenge is he?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Since when is that an ideal quality in a boyfriend?"

"Well...alright then...but what do you guys _actually _have in common? I've always wondered..."

I thought. I shouldn't have had to think about it, but it wasn't anything I'd even considered before. Well, we talked about sports a lot...though I wasn't really into all that, and we talked about school a lot...but we both had completely different opinions on school and academic stuff... I was racking through my brains for _anything, _and Jerome could tell. He laughed to himself while I continued to look baffled.

"Fine. Nothing much. But that doesn't matter at all!"

He looked surprisingly pleased with himself, and smirked slightly. I found myself feeling slightly annoyed, just because Mick and I didn't have much in common wasn't a bad thing. Opposites attract and all that...

"I suspected as much. Anyway, let's get out of here."

Jerome paid for the meal, even though I protested. He claimed that as this was an 'evening of fun designed to prove to me that you could have a life without worrying about things', I shouldn't pay, because then I'd only worry about cash-flow problems. That made me laugh I had to admit, so I let him have his way, and we left the restaurant.

"Hey, this isn't the way home?" I questioned once he'd led me away from the normal route back to the house.

"Who said the evening was over? We're going the scenic way back!"

We chatted about general things on the walk, which was nice. Over the course of the last few weeks, I'd forgotten how funny he could be, and we shared stories, talked about music or films, and just enjoyed each other's company. It felt more like that period when Mick was in California. And I think now that I knew about his parents and a bit of his back story, he'd taken his walls down, and wasn't as careful about what he let slip out of his mouth. I never mentioned his past obviously, but it was out there, and he didn't seem to mind that I knew.

After about twenty minutes, we joined the path that went next to the river, and Jerome sat on a bench next to the bank.

"Pretty." I said, gesturing to the scenery.

Jerome just nodded, and then bent down to pick up a small stone. He threw it into the water, and I got very lightly splashed.

"Oi, watch it!" I said, though he just smiled mischievously, and repeated the action, only the splash was bigger this time. "You asked for it now..."

I found a similar stone on my side of the bench, and threw it with plenty of force, so Jerome got a very light soaking. He looked shocked, though he was laughing at the same time. Then, it was war. Both of us stood up, scrabbling around on the path for stones or pebbles, and then launching them into the river so that the other person got a mini drenching. This carried on for a good few minutes, until we were both laughing so hard it was difficult to breathe, and we were both absolutely drenched.

"Truce?" he said, offering out his hand.

"Truce."

I walked over to shake it, but in the process tripped over a rock, and momentarily lost my balance. _Oh god, I'm going to fall into the river. My phone is in my pocket...it's going to get ruined! And what if I can't get out? How embarrassing..._

Luckily, I was stopped before I fell. A hand grabbed my wrist swiftly, and pulled me up in a sharp, fluid motion. I found myself smacking hard into Jerome's chest, and I glanced up at him, heart still beating quickly from the shock of almost falling. He was looking at me, and for a few seconds we just stared at each other, until he laughed, pulling away.

"You gotta be more careful, Mara! Or who knows what will happen?"

He laughed, I grinned back, and we walked back to the house, still soaked. I had to admit, it had been the most fun I'd had in a _long _time.

**Hello :)**

**Thanks so much all you lovely reviewers, every review honestly makes my day a little bit :)  
>Also, fun fact...the guy who plays Robbie (vote counting guy) is the year below me at school. Was really weird to see him appear on HoA :L<strong>


	10. Chapter 9

**Jerome POV**

I'd trashed my original plan. There was no way that avoiding Mara and not being nice to her was working out, I'd been doing the opposite of avoiding her tonight. Instead, I settled on a new plan. If I helped Mara get through this perfection thing, and remained as her friend...then I guess it would be easier to get over her? If she was still in my life? At least it might make the knowledge that she'd never be interested in me a little easier to handle, because I still enjoyed spending time with her, even just as her friend.

I'd pushed my luck a little bit tonight. There was that brief moment where we'd been staring at each other, and she was standing so close our bodies were just about touching... I wish I'd have bailed out of that sooner, she was bound to be suspicious now. _But she was just so damn intoxicating sometimes..._

I have to say, the reaction when we got back was to say the least, amusing.

"Oh, there you are!" said Alfie when I walked through the door. "And Mara...wait! Have you guys been _together_?"

The others heard his reaction, and came to greet us, and obviously questioned the reason we were both damp.

"Rain." I lied, praying that no-one had been outside that evening. I wasn't about to explain to Mick that his girlfriend and I had been involved in a somewhat flirtatious splashing fiasco.

Speaking of Mick, he hadn't looked particularly impressed that Mara had been with me, so I headed to my room and let Mara deal with it. I didn't want to get involved more than I needed to, or Mick would start questioning my true intentions.

I checked my phone when I made it back to my room, having forgotten to take it with me. Four new messages, all of them from Katrina. _Four?_ I honestly had no idea why she was so interested. I hadn't exactly been trying too hard to get her to like me... Most girls would have gotten bored, or would have just flat out rejected me in the first place.

Skimming the messages, three of them were just general pointless texts about something funny that had happened during the day, and the other was her asking if I wanted to meet up again soon. _No. No I really don't._

**Mara POV**

"Mara, you're soaking!"

"Er...yeah...rain."

Mick and I were sat in his room. He hadn't looked entirely pleased when I'd arrived back with Jerome, just as I'd suspected.

"Why were you with Jerome, anyway?" he said, looking at me suspiciously. I knew this was coming...

"He told me I did too much work, so he dragged me out to have 'fun'." I said, but Mick still didn't look entirely convinced. "I didn't _want _to go though, and it's not like I had a good time..."

This was a lie. I may not have originally wanted to go, but I'd certainly had a good time. Even dates with Mick these days weren't that fun anymore. _Don't talk like that Mara...you love spending time with Mick!_

He visibly relaxed a little at those words, and managed a small smile.

"Well that's ok then. Though I don't like you hanging around with him."

"Why?"

"Because it's _Jerome_! He's a lying, cheating, arrogant...well, you know what he's like. I'm just worried for your...wellbeing."

"That's very sweet Mick, but Jerome's not that bad, honestly. And I can look after my own wellbeing."

"Please Mara." He said, suddenly serious again. "I don't want you to go off with him again."

"What? But..."

"Well you said you didn't enjoy it anyway...so please? For me?"

I sighed. I couldn't say no to Mick, he was my boyfriend, and a good boyfriend at that. I doubted I'd ever find a guy better than him, so he was worth hanging onto. But without Jerome, I'd just be stuck inside doing homework for most evenings. I mean, I liked work, and I didn't mind doing homework, but after tonight...after tonight I wanted to have fun as well. I wanted to be _happy_.

But it was Mick. And I didn't want to lose him.

"I guess so."

He just smiled, and then moved on.

"So I guess you didn't start on that English work then?"

Jerome's words were ringing in my ears. I didn't want to do this. I didn't _have _to do this. I could say no, and if he really cared, he wouldn't mind. I took a deep breath.

"Mick, I don't think it's a good idea for me to keep doing all your homework. It's cheating, and it's wrong. Plus, I really don't have the time."

"What?" he said. "I thought we'd discussed this? I could really use the help, you know that!"

"But I'm not _helping _you, I'm doing it for you! It's not the same!"

"You don't want me to get expelled do you?"

"What? Of course not! I just can't _do _all your homework for you. It's not fair on me!"

"And it's not fair on _me _that I struggle with school! I thought you liked helping me?"

"I do when you're actually _with _me!"

This argument went on for a few more minutes, until Victor made his usual end of the night speech, and I had to go back upstairs. We didn't reach an actual conclusion, though he was mad at me, that much was obvious.

I bumped smack into Jerome as I left Mick's room, but I didn't want to talk. I wanted to get into bed before I started crying, and I could already feel myself welling up.

"Mara, are you ok?" asked Jerome, and he sounded genuinely worried.

"I'm fine!" I said, pushing past him and running up the stairs.

I didn't want to talk to him, I didn't even want to talk to Patricia, who was waiting to interrogate me about my evening. I made my excuses about being tired, and slipped into bed, though I didn't sleep well.

Mick was mad at me, and it was my fault. Should I have just done his stupid English essay? That would have solved everything, and Mick would still look at me in that adoring way he usually did. _But you don't WANT to do his essay. _No, I didn't. But it would save my relationship if I did. And that would be worth it then, wouldn't it? And then there was Jerome, and I could already imagine him telling me how much of a scumbag Mick was being. I didn't really know whether I agreed with him or not, but Jerome would put up a good fight as regards to me doing more of Mick's work...

For someone who was always regarded as the 'brainy one', right then I had no idea what to think.

**Jerome POV**

Mara was _not _fine, that much was obvious. I'd heard the latter part of their conversation, as their voices got louder, and Mick got angrier. She got full marks for standing her ground though, I expected her to cave in about that essay once he'd protested a little bit. But she didn't, and he'd upset her because of it... _Now can you see Mara? How much he upsets you, how much he's blatantly using you for your brains?_

But the one thing that gave me hope was that I think Mara had finally started to listen to what I'd been saying. She'd said no to Mick, and that at least, was progress.

Breakfast was awkward. Mick sat away from his usual seat, and him and Mara didn't say a word to each other. I half expected Mara to sit by me instead...but she kept to herself, not making eye contact or conversation with any of the rest of us. _You expected her to sit by you? Why? It's not like you're a second option to Mick, you're not even an option. Face it._

I tried to talk to her again before school, but she'd already left. I guess she was stressing about this whole situation in a big way. I wish she could just see it, but she was too blind to see what was in front of her own eyes. She was miserable, and I know she admitted that to me last night, but I didn't think she knew quite _how _miserable she was.

**Mara POV**

I'd gotten through school, the entire school day, and Mick still hadn't said a word to me. He hadn't exactly glared at me or been obviously rude, but he just didn't seem to acknowledge my existence, acted like he didn't really know me. I'd shot him a faint smile in the middle of French, and he'd sort of smiled in return...but then he'd looked away like it had been a mistake.

The silent treatment didn't last too long though, because that evening after an awkward dinner, he finally spoke to me.

I'd sat myself down at the table, ready to do some work. It was my work, but of course I'd been debating whether or not whether to give in and do Mick's essay for him, as a surprise. He'd forgive me after that, surely?

But then I heard footsteps, and Mick was standing in the doorway, looking slightly nervous, with a small smile.

"Hey," he said quietly, not quite meeting my eyes.

"Hi."

I had nothing else to say, I didn't really know where to start.

"Look..." he said. "I'm sorry I went a bit crazy last night, it was unfair to make you do that essay."

A feeling of relief swept over me, and I couldn't help but smile. There, he was back to how he should be, sweet and kind, and not expecting too much of me. Jerome was wrong, Mick wasn't using me for my brains, he wasn't a scumbag, he was simply amazing. I thought about how nice it would be to not worry about doing his work, and to get rid of that constant worry that he'd break up with me if I didn't to it.

"Thank you. And, it's fine. No worries."

He smiled widely at me, and sat beside me, taking my hand. _Back to normal, this was more like it._

"Yeah, I mean, it was such a long piece of work. _Really _unfair. Sorry babes, I shouldn't have asked you to do that."

I smiled again. This was right again, back to how it should be.

"But," he continued. "You wouldn't mind giving me a hand with these geometry questions would you? It will only take about fifteen minutes."

My heart sank. It hadn't changed. I would still have to do his work for him, and would feel guilty if I didn't. Especially now, especially after he'd apologised for the last one... It would be really rude not to help on such a small piece of homework. I didn't want to do it, I really didn't...but I couldn't not...

"Ok."

"Thanks babe. Now, I have to go out for a run. See you later!"

He kissed me swiftly on the cheek, but paused before he left the room.

"Mara?" he asked, looking curious. "You're happy, aren't you?"

"Yes," I lied. "Very happy."

And then he left, leaving me in a state of pure emotional turmoil.


	11. Chapter 10

**Jerome POV**

"I don't know why everyone rejects my alien theories. They're all backed up by science!" Alfie said enthusiastically as we walked home from town.

"Yeah, no idea..." I mumbled in reply. My attention wasn't really on Alfie, my mind was on Mara. More specifically, Mick and Mara. I doubted that Mick would break up with Mara over her yelling at him. Yeah, he was prone to overreacting, but I reckoned he'd just pout and sulk for few days before finally talking to her again.

My only hope was that Mara would see sense, and break up with _him_, though again I doubted this. After everyone that they'd been through, she'd still somehow continued to like him...and she'd probably feel like somehow this whole situation was her fault... _Why do you care so much? It's not like she'll go for you, even without Mick._

"Dude? Dude? _Dude!" _Alfie shouted into my ear, and I snapped back to reality. Alfie laughed at my baffled face. "What on earth are you thinking about?"

"Nothing much..."

"Whatever. I bet you're off daydreaming about Katrina, aren't you?"

_Jesus Alfie! If you're so obsessed with Katrina, why don't you go out with her? _I just screwed up my face, and hastily changed the topic. I didn't want to talk about Katrina, and I certainly didn't want to talk about Mara. Not with Alfie, not with anyone.

We got back to the house, and within seconds Alfie had been dragged away by Nina and Fabian, who wanted to talk about 'the thing', as they had put it. They thought they were so clever...but it was obvious that something was going on.

I planned to just go back to my room, maybe do some work (not likely though), or just hang out. But I was interrupted when I walked past the living room, and I could hear someone crying. It was Mara. _What had Campbell done to her this time?_

Slightly cautiously, I walked into the room, making sure Mick wasn't still around. She didn't even notice I was there until I sat on the sofa beside her.

"Mara, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing..." she mumbled, turning her head so I wouldn't see her in her current state.

"Don't lie to me Mara. Is it Mick? Is it the essay thing again?"

She nodded, then shook her head.

"He came and apologised for the essay thing."

My heart sunk just a little bit, but I tried to ignore it.

"Well, that's good then, right?" I forced myself to say, hating myself for saying nice things about their relationship.

"Yeah...but..."

"But what?"

"But now he wants me to do some maths for him. And I feel _awful_."

Oh he had some serious nerve, did Campbell.

"_What? _Seriously, Mara, you're letting him get away with pulling something like that?"

She looked at me, and I could tell from the expression on her face that she was going through a lot. She was obviously upset, but she looked confused and angry at the same time.

"It's just...it's not a _big _homework...and I feel so guilty after the argument we had last night...and he'd be even angrier if I didn't...but I don't _want _to do it! Am I a horrible person?"

"God, no Mara! Don't even think that! Look at what Mick's doing to you! It's awful!"

"But it's just _one _tiny homework..."

"No it's not. If you do this, there'll be another one, and another. Unless you tell him how you really feel, he's just going to keep making you do them."

"But...after last time, with the essay...you saw how he reacted to me sticking up to him!"

Tears were flowing from her eyes, and it broke my heart to see it. But what made it worse was that it was over some other guy, and she still couldn't see it.

"I know Mara. And it's always going to be like that."

"So what should I do?"

Break up with him. Slap him round the face. Make him feel so god damn awful for what he's put you through, he'll feel guilty for years.

"I know what _I'd _do. But you won't like it."

"Tell me! Jerome, please! How can I fix this?"

"If someone was doing that to me, I don't think you _could _fix it. If I were in your shoes, I'd break up with him."

**Mara POV**

I sat there in silence, not knowing what to do.

_I'd break up with him._

_I don't think you COULD fix it._

My mind was spinning, trying to think of anything that could make this better. I could do the work, but then I wouldn't be happy. Or I could not...and then _he _wouldn't be happy.

Maybe...maybe Jerome had a point?

But I didn't _want _to break up with Mick. Sure, I was upset. I was upset and angry about what he was making me do, but it wasn't worthy of breaking up with him, surely? Plus then I'd lose him...I'd lose the Mick that was funny, and sweet, and kind...but would I still be _happy?_

I honestly had no idea what to do.

"Jerome, why is this all so _hard_?" I said, starting to cry even harder.

"Life's hard, Mara. But you'll get through it."

He gently put his arm around me, in a friendly way, and pulled me closer so that I could cry into his shoulder. It was completely out of character for him, but I have to admit that it helped, it _really _helped. Just sitting there, feeling safe and protected...and knowing that there was someone who cared. I knew how Jerome felt about Mick, and he was obviously angry with him right now, but he at least was putting that aside to comfort me. Patricia would have just called Mick some obscene names, and would have told me that she'd been right all along.

But Jerome just sat there in silence, letting me cry to my heart's content. I felt immensely grateful to him, and I had to admit I hadn't felt this comforted for longer than I could remember. When the tears finally ran dry, I looked up, slightly embarrassed, but for once Jerome didn't laugh, even though I know my face was red and blotchy from all crying. He just looked at me with a weak smile.

"It's going to be ok, Mara." He said, and that was all he needed to say.

We went our separate ways, and I found myself pacing around my room. I would have to talk to Mick. I didn't know what I wanted, but I knew that we needed to talk, and I needed to tell him I was unhappy doing all his work. A slight part of me hoped that he'd understand, and everything would go back to normal, but I was smart enough to know that that wouldn't be case.

**Jerome POV**

I didn't know what had possessed me to put my arm around her, but I did. I instantly regretted it, thinking she'd push me away, and that would be it. But she seemed to find it a comfort, and she luckily didn't notice how fast my heart had been beating.

She'd disappeared afterwards, saying she needed some time to think, but she'd thanked me for making her feel better, so at least it wasn't like she had run away from the creep with his arm around her. I still didn't know why she hadn't even considered breaking up with him, and then still denied that the relationship wasn't working.

Trust me, when you're miserable, that's a sign that the relationship was over.

**Mara POV**

Mick was back for dinner, but he only came in half way through, so I didn't get a chance to talk to him until afterwards. I was sat by Jerome throughout the meal, and he seemed to be trying to take my mind off the situation, by telling me about all the pranks he'd ever pulled, and how they'd all failed miserably. I laughed along with him and Alfie, though I was worried. _Really _worried. And when Mick stood up to leave, I followed him, biting my lip nervously the whole way.

"Hey babes!" he said, kissing me.

Oddly enough, I didn't get a buzz or a thrill from it at all.

"Hi, Mick." I said, forcing a smile. "Can we talk?"

"Course," he said, leading me into his room. "Though firstly, have you got that geometry sheet? It's due in tomorrow."

"Actually..." I said, taking a deep breath to reassure myself. "I haven't done it."

"What, why?"

His tone changed dramatically, and now he was cold, and slightly angry.

"Mick, I'm sorry, but I'm not going to do your work for you."

"Yeah, we talked about this yesterday! And I said I'd do all the big stuff by myself, remember?"

"Yes. But I'm not going to do the little stuff either. It's just too much stress, and I can't handle it."

"But I _need _your help!"

"That may be so, but have you ever thought about how I feel? Having to do twice the amount of work!"

"You said you were happy!"

Yes, that was true. But he should have seen it, he should have _known._

"You didn't notice that I was lying."

The argument that followed was brutal, to say the least. He accused me of being selfish, and not caring about him or how well he did at the school. He said I'd changed, he said I would have helped him before. We were shouting, and I knew that the others could probably hear it, but I didn't care.

This argument was the moment I realised how I really felt. I was miserable. Truly miserable. And right in the centre, was the one thing I thought was totally right with my life. _Mick._

At this point, he was calling me heartless and cruel. So I said it.

"Mick, this isn't working. I can't do this anymore. It's over."

My heart was beating, and I still wasn't sure if it was the right move, but I felt relieved in some ways, like I'd finally been able to drop a weight from my shoulders. And I would miss him, I really would. The fun, sweet Mick, I was genuinely sad to leave him behind...but Jerome was right, if I stayed with him, this whole pattern was only going to get worse, and I'd be even more miserable.

Mick protested, saying I was making a fuss over nothing, but I just wanted to get out of there.

So I left the room, and saw Jerome waiting outside.

"I heard you two fighting. Good for you...er...I mean, I'm sorry."

I couldn't help but smile. Typical Jerome, congratulating me on something everyone else would pity me for.

He offered me a weak smile in return, and then gave me a hug. I wrapped my arms around his back, feeling comforted by the warmth of his body, and the general feeling of protection.

"Life's hard, Mara." He said again, not letting me go. "But you'll be ok. Everything will get better."


	12. Chapter 11

**Jerome POV**

It was strange how you could hope for something to happen for weeks, yet when it does you don't feel quite how you thought you would. When I heard Mara and Mick fighting, and heard Mara utter those fateful words, I was obviously ecstatic. Finally, she'd realised she was unhappy, and she'd actually listened to my advice about their relationship. I was honestly proud of her for doing that. But what surprised me was that I was also slightly sad, because _she _was sad.

_Jerome Clarke, you're in love. Who the hell would have thought that?_

Yeah, it was all wrong. Jerome Clarke didn't fall in love. And what's more, I never expected to feel so bad when Mara and Mick broke up. But it almost broke my heart when I was holding her in my arms, just to see her so torn up and confused. Though at least _she_ broke up with _him_. I suspect it would have been a whole lot worse if it had been the other way around.

Patricia had appeared and dragged Mara away, giving me a fowl look on the way. Charming. I headed back to my room.

"So, they really broke up?" Alfie asked, having heard most of the argument as well.

"Yeah, she's pretty beat up about it."

"Man, it's a shame relationships never work in this house. Guess you got it right, mate...going for someone from a different house!"

I'd almost forgotten Katrina even existed, let alone that she probably thought we were actually a couple. I would have to sort _that _out at some point...

**Mara POV**

"So, tell me everything." Patricia said, and I did.

I told her about the work, how Jerome had told me not to do it, how Mick had made me feel guilty enough to consider doing that essay for him...and how Jerome had given me the push to finally end it.

"I told you Mick wasn't for you, didn't I Mara?"

I just had to nod my head in agreement.

"Yeah," she continued. "I'd give him a slap if I were you! You're totally right to break up with him over that, it was way out of order!"

"Thanks Patricia, though I don't want to slap him...just stay out of his way."

"Though I have to say, you and a certain Mr. Clarke were looking mighty cosy down there..."

"What? Don't be ridiculous Patricia, he's just helping me with some stuff, he's just a friend."

"Quite a good friend if you ask me..."

"What? Patricia, it's _Jerome_! I'm not interested in him like that! No way! Just...no!"

"Me thinks the lady doth protest too much."

I just shrugged her off, though I had to admit I was slightly impressed at her Shakespeare knowledge. But I didn't like Jerome! I couldn't, I only just broke up with Mick! I thought about how comfortable I'd felt earlier when Jerome had his arm around me, or when he hugged me after Mick and I argued...but I shrugged it off. It was _Jerome,_ don't be stupid.

But nevertheless, I went to sleep that night with Patricia's words ringing in my ears.

_Me thinks the lady doth protest too much._

The next morning, I was determined to look like I wasn't fazed by mine and Mick's breakup. I was though, though mainly angry at him rather than upset. But instead of letting it get to me, I marched downstairs and sat at the breakfast table like nothing had happened. Though obviously, the news had already spread.

"Guys, how weird is it, that like...we're all single now!" said Amber excitedly.

"How on earth is that exciting?" said Patricia with a scowl.

"Because, that means I can start setting people up again!"

She flicked a glance to Mick, and I wondered if she would try to get him back now that I was out of the picture. She was welcome to him. And at least she wouldn't have the whole work problem, his grades wouldn't be likely to improve if Amber was the one helping him...

"Actually," Amber continued. "We're not all single...I forgot about Jerome's secret girlfriend."

Jerome, who was sitting next to me, visibly tensed up, and flicked a slight glare to Amber.

"For the last time. She is _not _my girlfriend!"

I found myself relaxing slightly, though I didn't quite know why. Amber just rolled her eyes at him, and Alfie looked as if he were about to protest, but thought better of it when he took a look at Jerome's face.

For a second, Jerome turned to face me and shot me a quick smile, which was reassuring, given that the mood had gotten slightly more awkward since I'd joined the table. At least _he_ wasn't feeling awkward about the situation...

**Jerome POV**

Why? Why with all the Katrina comments all of a sudden? I hated it, and I hated that Mara would think I had a girlfriend. I knew I had no hope anyway, but I at least wanted to remain single in the tiny possibility she may see me as more than a friend. _Fat chance, Jerome, fat chance._ But no, someone _always _mentioned my apparent 'secret' girlfriend...

I had planned to walk to school with Mara, seeing as she looked a little bit lost without Mick pulling her around everywhere with him...but that meathead got to _me _first.

"Clarke. I need to talk to you."

"What do you want, Campbell?"

"Not here. I'll tell you on the way to class."

"Why?" I sneered. "Need someone to show you the way?"

"Shut up. Just come on."

So begrudgingly I walked with him out the door, loathing every second that I had to spend within a two metre radius of him.

"Well, what is it?"

"It's about Mara."

"Haven't you done enough to her, Campbell?"

He looked truly loathsome. _My sentiments exactly..._

"It's your fault you know."

"My fault about what?"

"That she broke up with me?"

"What? How can you even _suggest _that? She broke up with you because she finally realised you were a no good, using scumbag."

"Watch it Clarke..." he snarled. "But I know she's been talking to you recently. And it sounds right up your street, persuading her to break it off with me!"

"You really have that big an ego, don't you? You honestly think that the only reason she'd break up with you was because of me? She was _miserable_ with you! And she made a good decision...you just need to accept that."

"She was only miserable because _you _made her think that she was! She was happy! _We _were happy until you came along."

"She was _not _happy! I only made her realise that. So just leave it Campbell, and go bother someone else!"

I walked at a faster pace, and although he could have run to catch up with me if he'd wanted, he didn't bother thankfully. There was only so much of Mick Campbell that I could stomach in a day, and that conversation was _more _than I needed.

Yes, today had definitely gotten off to a bad start. I found myself glaring at everything and everyone, just a permanent frown fixed on my face.

"Whoah, angry much?" said Mara, after I'd slammed the door of my locker so hard the others shuddered. I couldn't help but smile when I saw her.

"Yeah...just been a bad day that's all."

"Is this to do with Mick? I saw you two talking earlier..."

"Well, it wasn't exactly civilised, that's for sure..."

"What did he want?"

"He had the cheek to suggest that it was entirely my fault that you and him were no longer together, and that it was _my _fault that you were unhappy with the whole work thing!"

I almost expected her to agree with him, to tell me it _was _all my fault...but she didn't.

"He's just not a nice person...I wish I could have seen it before."

**Mara POV**

I didn't expect to hear myself say those words, especially not so soon, but I felt relieved having spoken them out loud. He _wasn't _ a nice person, and I was glad I could finally admit it. _Why the hell had I been putting up with it for too long?_

"Seriously Mara? A week ago you were practically his groupie!"

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, well someone helped me to realise what he's like..."

"Oh yeah?" he said, giving me a quick nudge. "Wonder who that could be then..."

We both laughed, and for the rest of the day, I wasn't too bothered by the recent breakup. It was just nice to relax, to not feel guilty for talking and laughing with Jerome, and the difference in stress levels was phenomenal. I just felt like myself again.

When we'd gotten back to the house, I settled into my usual routine. Go up to my room, and do homework before dinner. Though it never worked out to be the peaceful activity it could have been. Today, I was interrupted by Jerome, who didn't even knock, and came and sat next to me in my room.

"Um...hi?"

"Oh, don't mind me, I just have a job to do."

"Which is?"

"Making sure you don't overdo it."

I smiled, and he smiled back, a genuine caring smile.

"Well, I think I have it covered..."

"I'll believe that when I see it."

So he stayed with me for the next hour or so, stopping me from working too much on a particular homework. He was good company, and made the process of doing homework much more enjoyable.

And I have to admit, I was sad to see him go.


	13. Chapter 12

**Jerome POV**

Mara hadn't quite learnt when to stop when doing a homework assignment, but she was getting better, much better. And she'd stopped fighting me now, which was a good thing. It was probably because after the whole Mick incident, she'd realised she could trust me, and realised that I was only trying to help her, not sabotage her school work or future career prospects or anything. I probably didn't even need to stay with her that evening, but to be honest, it was a good excuse to spend time with her.

That night at dinner, she sat by me automatically, and the look on Mick's face was definitely a classic. I just flashed him an excellent smile, along with a slightly cheesy wave, which made his frown turn into an all out glare.

"Don't make it worse," Mara hissed at me when she us, but her voice wasn't cold or angry. In fact, I could have sworn I saw the corner of her mouth flick up into a small smile.

"Alfie, can we talk to you for a minute after dinner?" Nina asked, looking as she usually did when she was lying or attempting to keep a secret.

"Yeah sure," said Alfie in reply.

"Mate, you're forgetting it's us on chore duty tonight..." I cut in. Alfie looking momentarily confused, and we watched him count up the days of the week on his fingers, before groaning dramatically.

"It's pretty important..." said Nina again, biting her lip.

"Well, I could get someone to cover for me? Mick, how about..."

"No." Both Mick and I said at the same time.

"Ok then," said Alfie, looking from person to person at the table. "Mara?"

No, of course she wouldn't. Mara had much better things to do than voluntarily help me wash up.

"Yeah, ok." She said, and I was stunned.

"Really?" I asked, my heart leaping slightly.

"Yeah...I haven't got anything else to be doing, so why not?"

Mara and I smiled at each other, Alfie cheered, and Nina and Fabian looked relieved.

**Mara POV**

I don't know why, but the thought of spending more time with Jerome was very tempting. We always had a great time together and a good laugh, especially recently, so helping him with chores seemed like a good excuse to hang out with him a bit. Dinner passed (luckily no food fights), Mick went off for a run, and Alfie and the others went off to do whatever it was they did these days. Then it was just me and Jerome, and oddly I felt slightly nervous.

"So, washing or drying?" Jerome asked as he started to collect plates up off the table.

"You're giving me the choice? How chivalrous of you..." I said, and he laughed. "I'll dry, I guess."

We moved everything into the kitchen, and Jerome set about filling the sink and starting to wash.

"Did you see the look on Campbell's face earlier? Classic..." Jerome said, laughing at the memory.

"You shouldn't try and _deliberately _make him mad..."

"But it's funny!" he said, and I gave him a look. "Come on Mara, he's history now. Don't be such a spoilsport!"

He flicked his finger into the washing up foam, and placed a blob at the end of my nose. I frowned while he laughed to himself. _Oh it is ON..._

"Don't look so cocky now, Jerome..." I said whilst picking up a handful of bubbles, and smearing it down his face. I giggled when I saw his face, he looked ridiculous.

"Mara Jaffray, you don't know what you've just gotten yourself into!"

We both dived for the washing up bowl, and within seconds were both covered in a thick, foamy coating. We laughed together, and I saw Jerome eyeing up the bottle of washing up liquid that was lying on the counter. He made a grab at it, and although I suspected he was just going to use it to make more foam, instead he turned it against me, and sent a jet of thick, green liquid all over me.

I opened my mouth in surprise, and stepped forward to retaliate, but slipped on the excess washing up liquid that had landed on the floor. And once again, just as I was preparing myself for impact, Jerome caught me.

"Smooth..." he murmured, slowly wiping away some foam from my cheek, not taking his eyes away from mine as he did so. I felt my heart momentarily speed up, and I just gazed back, somewhat entranced.

**Jerome POV**

She was so _close_. It was almost unbearable, looking into her eyes and being so in such close proximity. _You're doing it again, you're pushing your luck..._

"What's with all the screaming? Oh."

We both jumped, turning to see Patricia standing in the doorway with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. I then realised how ridiculous we looked, covered in washing up foam, and in Mara's case, washing up liquid as well...

There was an awkward silence, and Mara kept constantly shifting her gaze between me, Patricia, and the unfinished dishes.

"Er, I'll finish up...you go change," I said to Mara, and she smiled gratefully, before scuttling off up to her room.

"Something you wanna share with the rest of us Jerome?" said Patricia, who hadn't moved like I thought she would have done. I gave her a look, honestly not knowing what she was talking about, and she just rolled her eyes before following Mara upstairs.

**Mara POV**

"Mara, you're unbelievable!" said Patricia, while I routed around in my wardrobe for something else to wear.

"Why?"

"Yesterday you practically bite my head for suggesting you like Jerome, and now you and him are having some weird foam fight?"

"So?"

"So you like him. It's _obvious_."

"What? No I don't, we were only messing around."

I changed my top, and started brushing the foam out of my hair.

"You're such a bad liar Mara. Anyway, you wanna watch a movie or something?"

"Sure," I said, glad she was off the Jerome topic again, as it was getting rather repetitive and annoying.

"I'll go downstairs and choose something, meet you there."

She left, and I carried on de-foaming myself, not realising quite how covered I had gotten. Eventually, when my hair was dry (though still a little sticky) I headed back downstairs.

"Is this ok?" said Patricia when she saw me, holding out one of her favourite romantic comedies that she and Joy used to be so fond of.

"Another rom-com?" I asked, laughing slightly. "We _always _watch those!"

"Always watch what?" said Jerome, strolling into the room and making us both jump.

"Why do you _always_ do that Jerome?" said Patricia. "And it's none of your business!"

"We're watching a movie," I explained, and Patricia rolled her eyes initially, but then smiled, an evil glint in her eye.

"Yeah, you wanna watch it with us, slimeball?"

"I'm not watching some stupid romantic movie!" he said, and I laughed. _Typical Jerome._

"Well everyone else is busy," she continued. "So it's either this, or hide in your room like a lonely hermit."

Jerome rolled his eyes, and reluctantly flopped onto the sofa next to me, flashing me a smile as he did.

"You look...clean," he said, laughing slightly.

"Yeah, no thanks to you!"

He smirked as Patricia stood up to put the DVD in, and then we sat back to watch the film.

The movie was ok, but it was such a typical romantic comedy, that it was extremely predictable. We were joined about ten minutes into the movie by Nina, Amber, Fabian and Alfie, who came back from whatever they'd been doing. I was glad that Mick wasn't around, as he was still running, or training or whatever it was that he did all day these days.

I have to admit, the whole film, I wasn't entirely focusing. For some reason, I was more focused on Jerome, in particular Jerome's hand. He had his arm draped around the top of the sofa, just as he normally did. Every so often, when he shifted his position, or fidgeted slightly, his fingers would lightly skim the top of my shoulder, and every time that happened, something passed over me like a jolt. I glanced at him briefly half way through the film, and he met my eyes, giving me one of his brilliant, genuine smiles.

Patricia's words from yesterday once again echoed through my mind.

_Me thinks the lady doth protest too much._

And then I realised she was right. I'd been so focused on getting over Mick, and getting over the work obsession, that I hadn't seen it.

I hadn't even noticed that I'd fallen for Jerome.

**I'm sorry it's been ages since I last updated! **


	14. Chapter 13

**Jerome POV**

The film was ending, the credits were about to roll, and I was in hell.

I hadn't wanted to stay and watch it, no way, it was way too girly...but then I thought of sitting by Mara for two hours, and it suddenly became more appealing. But I hadn't considered what it would _really _be like. It wasn't exactly a large sofa, so we were fairly close together, and with the lights turned out I was fully aware that she was beside me, and throughout the film, the temptation to put my arm around her shoulders, or at least move in a little closer was hideously tempting. I had my arm on the back of the sofa like always, it was more comfortable that way, and I so nearly rested it on her shoulder. I wanted so badly to wrap my arm around her, it wasn't a big deal, it could have been seen as a friendly thing... but with everyone else there, I didn't want them to make a huge fuss over it, and I certainly didn't want Mara to shoot me down in front of the whole house.

I hadn't even paid attention to too much of the film either, though I glimpsed up to see two people kissing, so I assumed it was the big happy ending.

"Well, I'm glad _that's_ over!" said Alfie, earning a scowl from the girls. "Right Jerome?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah..." I replied, still in a slight daze. The lights flashed back on, and I gave Mara a quick smile.

We chatted for a bit, and then everyone slowly started heading to their rooms, or to bed, as it was nearing Victor's usual curfew. Soon it was just me and Mara, and I felt nervous again. _You remember that you have no chance, right?_

There was a moment of silence, and then Mara spoke up.

"So did you finish the washing up? Sorry I couldn't help..."

"Honestly Mara, it's fine. It was my fault anyway for covering you in gunk. Sorry about that..."

"Totally fine," she said, laughing slightly. "It was fun anyway!"

She grinned at me, and I couldn't help but to grin back. _Mara Jaffray, you really are enchanting..._

"And thank you," she continued. "Thank you for everything. For getting me out of a bad relationship, for helping me with my obsessions... I've said it before, but it means a lot. And I'm sorry for fighting you in the beginning."

She gave me a hug, and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into me, avoiding the inner voice that was shouting '_No! You shouldn't, it's too much of a risk.' _It was only a hug, a friendly hug, and she needed someone to be there for her, especially recently.

"Mara, it was nothing. I'm just glad you're happy again."

She pulled away, shooting me a huge smile. When she sat back down, she didn't scoot back to where she'd been sitting before, she stayed sitting close, so our knees were touching, so I took the risk, and left my arm around her shoulders.

She didn't object, surprisingly, and for the next half hour or so, we just sat there and chatted. We talked about every little thing that came into our heads, she told me about her childhood, and I even dared to tell her a bit more about mine. It always hurt to talk about my parents, which was why I never did, but for some reason I wanted Mara to know, I wanted her to accept me for who I _really_ was.

Eventually, when Victor shooed us off to bed, I didn't want to leave. I wanted to stay on that sofa all night. Giving Mara a quick hug goodnight, I headed to my room, sure of one thing.

Even though I still reckoned I had no hope in hell with Mara, I had to break up with Katrina.

**Mara POV**

He'd put his arm around me. And my word, my heart had sped up. I felt slightly strange, having feelings like this for Jerome when Mick had only been out of the picture for a couple of days. But I guess these feeling had been developing for a while, I was just too caught up in Mick drama to notice them.

Of course, the arm around had only been friendly. He wouldn't have meant it in any other way. I mean, I'm not exactly anything like the girls Jerome usually goes for. He goes for the stunning, slightly fake looking girls at parties, girls with more style than substance. He wouldn't go for a shy geek like me. _You have no hope Mara, but you feel this way now, you're stuck with it._

It had been so nice to be able to talk to someone as well, to be able to share stories and secrets without worrying that he'd judge me. He'd told me things that no one else knew, and I knew it meant a lot that he'd confided in me.

I slept badly again, but at least this time they were nice thoughts. Idle fantasies about Jerome taking me on a date...Jerome holding my hand... I knew it was very unlikely to happen, but a girl can still dream.

I spent a lot of time with Jerome the next day. We sat together at breakfast, walked to class together, and we were talking and laughing like we were the best of friends. He'd tease me about something like he normally would, but one look at the smile on his face told me he was only joking, and he didn't mean it. It was almost..._flirtatious?_ Or not... _You're seeing what you want to see Mara, he doesn't see it as flirting, he's just having a laugh with a friend._

"So," he said at lunch, taking a bite of his apple. "Did you know Mick can be easily led to believe inanimate objects can fly across the room of their own accord?"

"What?" I asked, suddenly curious. "Is this a prank, per chance?"

"Ah, got it in one! Yeah, just a little prank that got _quite _the reaction from our resident meathead. Made even better when Fabian accused Mick of doing it himself..."

I laughed, finding it way too easy to picture.

"You can be really sneaky at times, you know that?"

"I pride myself on it," he said, smiling. "But that's why you love me!"

I felt myself blush scarlet. Oh my God, he knew, _he knew!_ Though he could have just been saying it generally, like as a friend? That was more likely...but now I'd blushed, I hadn't said anything, _now _he knew. Now he was probably wondering why I was acting like a complete idiot.

"Or..." he said suddenly, looking awkward. "You know, that's what I've always been like...since...yeah..."

He trailed off, and there was a brief silence. Luckily, Alfie chose that moment to walk in and trip over a desk, so we laughed at that, and then carried on our conversation like nothing awkward had happened at all.

About five minutes later, the bell rang, and we stood up to head to lessons.

"Do you want to hang out after school?" I asked, praying that I wasn't just digging myself into a hole.

"Mara, I'd love to..." he said. "But I have something I er...need to do."

"Oh, what's that?"

"You know...just things to do, people to see..."

He nipped into the boys toilets, and I sighed. I'd heard that one before, when he was feeling awkward or didn't want to answer properly. Had I made him feel uncomfortable? But he'd said he'd wanted to hang out with me...so I had no idea.

He scarpered out the door as soon as afternoon lessons had ended, so I didn't get a chance to ask him again. Sighing, I figured that he'd tell me if he wanted to, and I wasn't going to embarrass myself anymore today.

I walked back to the house alone, but froze when I saw two figures in the distance.

One of them was definitely Jerome, he was easily recognizable by his height and his dirty blonde hair. And the other was a girl, but I couldn't tell who she was from this far away. But it didn't look like a girl from Anubis house...

Then it hit me. Katrina. Jerome was with Katrina, his secret girlfriend, or not-quite girlfriend or whatever she was.

My heart sank.

**Jerome POV**

Katrina had been thrilled when I'd bumped into her after second period, and even more thrilled when I'd asked to meet her...but that just made it worse, because even though we weren't technically going out, I wasn't going to lead her on or anything. I had to tell her that whatever we were, we weren't any more.

She'd cried. I was a bit surprised about how attached she'd gotten. I told her the truth, I told her I'd always liked someone else and that I didn't want to lead her on. I wasn't going to lie to the girl when she hadn't done anything wrong in particular.

I almost gave her Alfie's number, but then I realised with the whole Amber scenario that wouldn't have been helpful. After we'd talked, I stayed with her long enough that was deemed polite, then quickly excused myself to head back to the house, to see Mara.

I'd really put my foot in it earlier. That whole 'that's why you love me' thing was only a joke, but I was worried by her reaction that she thought I genuinely thought she loved me. _You wish._ She'd gotten so awkward, and she was probably worrying about how to tell me the bad news, that she didn't love me back.

I just hoped that if I didn't mention it again, it would be forgotten.

**Mara POV**

I'd avoided crying, luckily. But I felt like I was about to, I felt like tears were seconds away from streaming down my face. _I was such an IDIOT_. He was with Katrina, he'd always been with Katrina, he'd just hidden it from everyone, including me.

But I knew he didn't like me back, but just seeing him with a girlfriend made it so much harder, knowing that he was feeling what I was feeling, just for someone else.

And of course, right on cue, in he walked. I tried to keep my composure, to not look bothered, but he wasn't fooled. He could always see right through my pitiful attempts at putting up walls.

"What's wrong?" he said, sitting next to me in the living room. He looked genuinely concerned.

"Nothing..."

"Mara Jaffray, don't lie to me!"

"No, it's really nothing...I've just had a bad day, that's all."

"Really?"

I just nodded, biting my lip, trying to keep myself from crying.

All of a sudden, he'd wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer to him, so my head was buried in his chest. I put my arms around him as well, knowing I'd regret it later, but who cares.

He gently stroked my hair, and I could have stayed there for hours, but I knew that I shouldn't. He probably didn't want to hug me, he was just doing it out of common courtesy. It would be embarrassing if I'd stayed there for too long.

I pulled back slightly, but he didn't move his arms. I looked up, and found myself looking straight into his eyes, his perfect crystal blue eyes...and I was mesmerized.

I stared up at him, and he stared down at me. Our faces were excruciatingly close together, and before I knew it he'd closed the gap and crashed his lips onto mine.

Without thinking, I kissed him back, trying to make him know that I really meant it. And it felt like he really meant it too...but then I remembered.

I remembered Katrina. I remembered his _girlfriend_.

If there was one thing I definitely didn't want, I didn't want to be the stupid girl who let herself be led on, who let herself fall for a guy who had another girl in tow.

It broke my heart, because the kiss was _perfect_. But I wasn't going to be the 'other girl'.

So I did the only thing that I could. I ran.


	15. Chapter 14

**Jerome POV**

It was over. I'd ruined it all now. _How could I have been so stupid?_

She'd been upset, she'd been hurting...she just needed a friend, someone to comfort her, and I kissed her? It had been amazing as well, and I swear she kissed me back...I swear she did...but then she ran off...

I was stupid to think in that split second that she liked me, why would someone like her like someone like me? Someone washed up, totally rotten and completely heartless?

And now it was over. Now it would be too awkward, now she wouldn't want to hang around with me because she wouldn't be able to face me, knowing that I was in love with her. _Way to go Jerome, you just messed up the best thing that ever happened to you._

I hadn't moved from the sofa, and I was now sat there, burying my face in my hands, too ashamed to face anyone. Dinner was going to be a nightmare.

"_That filthy little slimeball!"_

Patricia's shout echoed through the house, and I heard an upstairs door slam, followed by loud stamps coming down the stairs. _Just great._

"Jerome!" she said as she saw me, her face full of anger.

"What?" I shot back, not wanting to talk to her.

And I guess she didn't really want to talk to me either, because what I got instead was a huge slap around the face.

"What the hell Patricia?"

"You deserved that, slimeball!"

"Why? I haven't _technically _done anything wrong?"

"Oh really? Well I think it's pretty sleazy to use someone like that!"

"_What?"_

"Oh cut the crap Jerome..."

She gave me a shove, and headed back upstairs. What was she talking about? How was I _using _Mara? I'd kissed her, and yeah, that wasn't the right thing to do, but it wasn't like I was _using _her?

Unless...

Unless she still had feelings for Campbell, of course. Because if she still did, then she'd still be upset over the breakup, and then...well then she make think I was taking advantage of her when she was upset and alone. This was _seriously _messed up.

But she hadn't told me she was upset over the breakup. She'd actually thanked me for it! But was she lying? Was this some weird girl thing that I didn't understand?

Mara didn't show up at dinner, but Patricia did...and she sure as hell took every possible opportunity to make a sarcastic, insulting comment about me. I was pretty sure everyone else cottoned on to the fact that I'd done something, but no one asked.

**Mara POV**

For once, Patricia told me exactly what I wanted to hear. She told me I was right to walk away, and that he was a two timing scumbag, and he didn't deserve me. I'd had to tell her that I liked him, and she said that just made it worse, because he'd hurt me even more.

I spent the night crying. Jerome was amazing, and I was genuinely falling for him...and that kiss had been _amazing_. But I'd never thought he would cheat on someone, let alone cheat on someone without telling the other person he even _had _a girlfriend. It was messed up, and I was once again in the middle of a horrible relationship situation.

Did I just attract guys like this? Was this going to happen to me for the rest of my life?

Breakfast was awkward. I wanted to skip it, but Patricia forced me to go, saying that I'd already missed dinner last night, and I would starve. Jerome looked at me as I entered, with a faint smile and pleading eyes. It took a lot of willpower, but I looked away, didn't meet his eyes for the rest of the meal, and ran off before he could try and talk to me.

_I may be naive at times, but I wasn't stupid. If I let myself get even more involved with him, he'd hurt me even more._

I left for school alone. It would be easy avoiding him, I knew his normal routine, so it would be easy to just make sure I was never nearby.

Though, this was easier said than done. I slammed my locker shut after first period, and there was Jerome.

"Leave me alone..." I mumbled, trying to get away from him.

"Mara, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have kissed you." He said, strolling after me, easily matching my speed. "I know you're not interested in me, and I know it was wrong to do that when you haven't got over Mick."

My eyes widened. Mick? What had _he _got to do with it? And he hadn't even apologised for the one thing I was actually upset up...the fact that he was going out with Katrina.

It was a strange sensation. Half of me wanted desperately to kiss him again, and half of me wanted to scream at him until my voice was hoarse. I just settled for barging into the girls toilets, praying he wouldn't follow me in. The fact that it was the _girls _bathroom hadn't exactly stopped him before.

But today, he left me alone, and for that I was thankful.

**Jerome POV**

I'd have thought she would have responded to that apology better, but no such luck. Once again, she just ran away from me, either too angry and embarrassed to talk to me, or just running away from it all. I guess I would just have to accept that she really didn't want anything more to do with me.

At least I still had Alfie, and I had gotten so good at hiding my emotions over my time at this school, that he had no idea I was upset. Though, his ignorance on the situation only lasted up till lunchtime.

We were sitting inside, just chatting and plotting potential new schemes. Mara and Patricia were sat a couple of tables away from us, and Mara kept looking cautiously over at us, like she was afraid I'd try and talk to her again. Everything was fine, until a girl stormed into the room. I'd never seen her before, but she was our age...and she looked _angry._ Really angry. She was looking around the room, as if she were searching for someone, and then her eyes met mine.

"Jerome Clarke?" she said, the anger obvious in her voice.

"Yes, that's me..."

I noticed how the people nearby had stopped their conversations to eavesdrop, as it was obviously a confrontation of some sort.

"Well," the girl said. "I think it's horrible what you did to Katrina!"

_Oh no. Not now. _

"I agree!" Patricia chipped in, and I was stunned. _What?_

"It's really cruel you know," this girl continued. "Breaking up with her like that! And because you'd liked someone else the _entire _time?"

"Whoah? Dude, what's all this about?" asked Alfie, and I groaned internally. This was not what I needed right now.

"You know that we were never actually together, right? I mean, we went out once, but nothing happened to give her the impression we were a couple. All I did was tell her I wasn't interested in her, in case she'd gotten the wrong idea!"

"Well, you're a jerk." The girl said, and slapped me, right where Patricia had done the day before. _Ow._

I felt my face redden, as people stared at me from all around.

"I'll catch you later," I mumbled to Alfie, and I headed out of the room.

But getting away from people is always easier said than done, because I had hardly left the room when Alfie appeared at one side, and Patricia on the other.

"What?" I asked angrily.

"You have some explaining to do, Clarke," said Patricia with a sneer, and Alfie nodded in agreement.

"Like what?"

"Like _everything._ Starting with Katrina."

I sighed.

"Look, I never really wanted to go out with her in the first place! I went out to lunch with her once, but only because you practically _made _me!" I said, looking at Alfie. "We were never together!"

"Liar!" said Patricia. "You were with her yesterday!"

"Yes. Yes I was. Telling her that I wasn't interested! Now are you both happy?"

I walked away again, and this time they didn't follow me.

**Patricia POV**

"I can't believe him!" said Alfie. "Why would he break up with Katrina?"

"Well at least he's not as big a jerk as I thought he was..." I mumbled, realising that he wasn't technically a cheater anymore.

"But what did that girl mean, saying he didn't want to go out with her because he liked someone else? Who?"

It was all making sense now.

"Mara..." I said. "He likes _Mara!_"

"What? _Still?_ How do you know?"

"He kissed her yesterday!"

"_What?_"

"Yeah! And that's why he wasn't interested in Katrina! It all makes sense now!"

_It all made sense now..._

**Mara POV**

Jerome had run off, Alfie and Patricia had run after him, and I was on my own, and totally baffled. So Jerome _wasn't _going out with Katrina? And he had said he never _had _been...and that girl had said he'd liked someone else?

Could I possibly dare hope that that other girl was me?

He'd kissed me after all...and then I ran away...I could have ruined everything...

But then earlier, he'd apologised for kissing me...could he have honestly regretted it? Was it all a big mistake?

_Why was it all going wrong?_

**Jerome POV**

"You like Mara?" Alfie practically shouted as he ran into the room, where I'd been hiding since lunchtime.

I was led on my bed, deep in thought. Had Mara run away because she thought I was with Katrina?

"What? No!" I said, still not wanting to admit it. Even if Mara _had _only run away because of Katrina, that still wasn't saying she liked me.

"Come on man, Patricia told me you kissed her!"

I sighed.

"Fine. And that's why I didn't want to go out with Katrina."

"You should have said!"

"She was going out with Mick, I wanted to get over her." I said, shrugging. "Didn't work though."

"Look at you with the feelings!" he said sarcastically, and I scowled. "Anyway, I gotta see Trudy about some washing..."

He swung open the door. "Oh hey Mara." He said, and I sat up.

A nervous looking Mara walked in, biting her lip.

"Jerome, I'm sorry."

"No, I'm sorry..."

"I didn't know. I saw you with Katrina yesterday, and I didn't know that you weren't together. I didn't know... I'm sorry for running off on you, I'm sorry if I've been absolutely horrible to you today, I'm sorry that Patricia slapped you...I'm an idiot..."

She bit her lip again, and I could see her eyes welling up. Tentatively, I started walking slowly towards her, and placed one hand cautiously on her shoulder. She responded instantly, and wrapped her arms around me, engulfing me in a tight hug, which I reciprocated.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered. "And it was so _perfect_..."

She looked up at me, and god damn it, she looked beautiful.

I didn't need to think about the consequences, I just wrapped my arms around her even tighter, and pressed my lips against hers.

**Hello lovely people :)**

**I'm sorry I've been mean and dragged it out...but now it's all happy again, so yay!**

**xx**


	16. Chapter 15

**Mara POV**

I had no idea how it had happened. I'd just gone in to apologise for ignoring him during the day...

And then he had kissed me, and I had completely forgotten everything that had happened before that moment.

I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck, kissing him back, making him know that this was what I wanted, that I wasn't going to run away this time. When Mick used to kiss me, yeah, it was nice...but it was nothing compared to this. Now, I thought my heart was about to burst through my chest...and I wanted nothing less than for this moment to end.

Jerome pulled me even closer towards him, and I ran my fingers through his hair, savouring the passion and the pure emotion of that one, unexpected moment.

Eventually, when we broke for air, we stayed standing there, our arms around each other and just staring into each other eyes. _Man, he had nice eyes._

"Wow..." Jerome whispered, smiling down at me. I couldn't agree more.

"Perfect." I whispered in return.

"I told you Mara, nothing can be perfect... But I may have to agree with you on this occasion..."

I grinned at him, my heart still beating uncontrollably fast. _Jerome liked me. Jerome kissed me, and he meant it, I KNEW he meant it this time..._

"Hey Jerome, Trudy says that dinner is- well _hello_!"

Alfie barged through the door, and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the position we were in. Both of us jumped apart in surprise, and stood watching Alfie who was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah, we'll be right there..." I said, walking towards the door.

"Are you sure? Because I can tell Trudy to wait if there's something you'd _rather _be doing..."

"No, it's fine Alfie," said Jerome, brushing past him on our way out. I had my back turned at this point, but I could have sworn I heard a brief high five between those two...

Dinner was slightly awkward. Although at this point it was obvious that Jerome and I liked each other, nothing had been said about whether or not we were technically a couple, and I didn't really want it to be brought up until that had been established.

But Alfie knew, and he was certainly making the most of it. Jerome and I were sitting next to each other as we always did, which wasn't a surprise to anyone, but Alfie kept feeling the need to comment on _everything_...

"Jerome, can you pass the juice please?" I asked.

"I'm sure he'll do _anything_ for you, eh Jerome?" Alfie said with a smirk, and Jerome just rolled his eyes.

Later on in the meal, Patricia was complaining about how much work she had to do, and how she wishes she had done it earlier like I had.

"Yeah, Mara's glad too. She can enjoy herself now, right Mara?" he had said, winking rather dramatically.

I just brushed it off, not wanting to cause a fuss. I had nothing to be ashamed of though. Mick and I were broken up, and I had fallen hard for Jerome...and we had kissed. It wasn't scandalous, it wasn't in any way wrong...but knowing some of the people in the house, it would be taken way out of proportion. Especially by Mick, who hadn't so much as smiled at me since the breakup.

Jerome suddenly grabbed my hand underneath the table, intertwining our fingers together. I felt instantly happier and gave his hand a quick squeeze, causing him to flash me a quick smile.

It was strange. I'd known Jerome for years, and we'd been friends for a while now...but never until recently had I noticed how good looking he was. With his tousled dirty blonde hair, piercing crystal blue eyes, and his general style...he was quite literally gorgeous, and I felt idiotic as to not having noticed it sooner.

We almost got through dinner without a scene being made. _Almost. _But by the time Trudy had brought out pudding, Alfie had grown impatient of waiting for someone to pick up on his little hints, so he decided to just go for it.

"So guys, when are you just going to spill?" he said, looking from me to Jerome with devious eyes.

"What on _earth _are you talking about?" asked Patricia, who was looking at me quizzically.

"Yeah, what's going on?" asked Fabian.

"Is this gossip? Because you just _have _to tell us now!" squealed Amber excitedly.

"Those two hooked up!" said Alfie, pointing an accusatory finger between us.

"We did not 'hook up'" Jerome said, air quoting the phrase.

"Well whatever...but they kissed anyway!"

I found myself blushing fiercely, but Jerome was still clasping my hand, so I felt comforted. Everyone at the table was suddenly murmuring, and glancing at the two of us in surprise.

"Wait, _what?_"

Mick's voice, slightly raised, cut through all the other voices, and everyone was suddenly silenced.

"You heard him..." I whispered.

"Yeah, you did." Said Jerome beside me, and Mick glared.

"I can't believe you kissed _him? _He's a cheating, lying, using _idiot!"_

"Much like yourself then..." Jerome muttered.

"Mick, he's worth a hundred of you..." I said, scowling. _How dare he be so hypocritical?_

**Jerome POV**

I'd had enough, I'd had enough of my gossiping housemates, and the death glare that Mick was projecting my way...

"You want to escape?" I asked Mara, standing up from the table and offering my hand.

"Yes please," she said, and walked with me out of the room, ignoring the array of stares from the rest of them.

We walked away from the house in silence, but surprisingly a non-awkward silence. I couldn't believe I'd had the guts to kiss her again...but she'd kissed me back, she'd been hapy...she _liked _me.

It sounded strange in my head. Mara Jaffray. Mara Jaffray, this amazing girl, the only person to ever crack open my hard outer shell, actually _liked _me. I'd felt like I was in an alternate reality for the last hour or so. And she'd even stood up to Campbell about it, she didn't deny it like I thought she might have done...

"Well _that _was slightly awkward," Mara said, laughing.

"Yeah, well...when Alfie finds something out, he's not amazing at keeping it a secret.."

We made it to the woods, and at that point I grabbed her hand. If she was going to have told me that the kiss was a mistake, she'd have told me by now. I glanced at her to see her grinning up at me. _Beautiful. _I couldn't help myself but lean in and kiss her again, just softly, my hand resting lightly on her lower back.

She grinned widely at me, kissing me briefly on the cheek, her arms draped around my neck. I grinned back, and we carried on walking, my arm around her shoulders and hers around my waist. It didn't seem plausible. The gorgeous brainy girl shouldn't have her arm around the washed up, lying prankster...but that was how it ended up, and it was the happiest I'd ever been.

We went back to the bench that I'd taken her to the evening she'd been stressed beyond belief, the one right next to the riverside. With a clear sky, the view from that bench with the water and stars was amazing. I kept my arm around her after we'd sat down, and she rested her head on my shoulder, her body pressed up close to mine. We spent about an hour talking, and it was so natural...like it was meant to be this way. The conversation flowed with ease, and I didn't feel embarrassed sharing stories or talking a little about my past or my family. This was Mara, and she wasn't going to judge me. She was only going to make everything better.

"Mara?" I asked, and she looked up, slightly sleepily. "After everything that's happened this evening, please tell me that it's not going to be something you regret? Because I don't think I can cope with that..."

"Of course not! I definitely wouldn't regret it, any of it!" she said, flushing slightly.

"Then you'll go out with me? You'll be my girlfriend?"

I bit my lip, so used to rejection that I was sure this was going to be another one.

"I'd love to."

I smiled widely, and leant in the kiss her once more, my heart beat accelerating rapidly. I pulled her in to me as close as I possibly could, and she wrapped her arms tightly around me. The kiss deepened, and I felt a huge surge jolt through my body as my tongue met with hers. It was perfect, truly perfect, and nothing could spoil it.

We walked back to the house a while later, chatting animatedly and hand in hand the whole time. I could be totally myself around her, which for someone like me was quite an achievement. No one knew the real me, except Mara. She knew me for who I _really _was...

Even the death glare from Mick as we walked back into the house didn't spoil the mood, and as I kissed Mara softly goodnight, I knew that it was unlikely that I would ever feel this euphoric again for a long time.

**Sorry this has been a while!**

**But yeah, only one more chapter I think, just to tidy everything up nicely :)**

**Can I just say a huge thank you to anyone who has ever reviewed, especially the amazing few of you who always review every single chapter...you always make my day, and I love you for it!**

**xxxxxxxx**


	17. Chapter 16

**Mara POV**

Jerome Clarke's girlfriend. Jerome's girl. I couldn't help but smile as I thought of that. It was strange how things had turned out. One moment I was with Mick, forcing myself to believe I was happy, and now I was with Jerome..._genuinely _happy. It was strange how different I felt. I didn't have to pretend anymore, and I knew that if I was stressed or upset, Jerome would help me through it, like he'd done all those times before.

"So, you and the slimeball huh?" said Patricia the next morning, obviously having waited to interrogate me.

"Don't call him that..." I murmured.

"Yeah, well go on...fill me in?"

"There's not much to tell... I went to apologise about blowing up over the Katrina thing, after I found out there _wasn't _a thing...and then it just sort of happened."

"But what happened after dinner? Mick looked like he was about to kill someone!" she said, smirking to herself at the memory.

"We just went away from the house, and sat and talked for a while...then later on he asked me out..."

"Wow, you have to give it to him...the guy's a weasel at times, but he's got more guts than I gave him credit for."

I couldn't help but laugh, and we walked down to breakfast chatting together. It felt oddly like old times, before Patricia had somewhat abandoned me for Nina and the others. I knew it wasn't an intentional ploy to faze me out of the picture...but it sometimes felt that way.

I sat in my usual spot at breakfast, and within a couple of minutes a hand lightly trailed over my shoulders, and Jerome sat down beside me. He grinned his brilliant smile, and I smiled back, positively beaming just at the sheer sight of him.

"Morning," he said, giving my hand a squeeze underneath the table, and the familiar jolt shot through me.

For a second we just looked at each other, until Patricia cleared her throat in an obvious manner.

"So, like, I'm confused..." Amber said, looking curiously between the two of us. "What's _actually _going on with you guys? Are you going out now or what?"

"Damn right they are!" said Alfie, giving Jerome a light hearted pat on the back as he walked to get more orange juice.

"It's so confusing isn't it? Because...Jerome was with Katrina, but then I heard he _wasn't _with Katrina, and Mara was with Mick, and before that _I _was with Mick...and now no-one's with Mick..."

"Yes, we get it Amber." Said Mick angrily, frowning at the two of us.

"All I'm saying is," Amber continued. "Is that I _still _think regular news updates are in order. But congrats guys! You'll look super cute in photos!"

Everyone at the table laughed except for Mick, whose frown deepened into a glare. Jerome smirked at Mick's expression, and then Mick had obviously had enough, as he stood up to leave.

"Watch your back Clarke..." he said, storming out of the room. Jerome put his hand to his mouth in mock fear, and I laughed.

But the confrontations were far from over, that was for sure.

**Jerome POV**

Mara and I walked to school hand in hand. It was amazing, being able to introduce her as my girlfriend...and walking into school clutching her hand made everyone see that she was mine...and I'd never felt prouder. I was still in mild disbelief that she _was _my girlfriend, and it still didn't seem possible that someone as beautiful as her would ever be interested in me. But she squeezed my hand as we walked through the corridors, and all of that disappeared from my mind. Mara Jaffray liked me, and life was wonderful.

It seemed like a perfect start to the day. But as I'd been saying all along, nothing could be perfect.

And it was right then, as we turned a corner to head to first class. I noticed Katrina first, closely followed by two other girls, one of which I recognised as the girl who'd yelled at me the day before. I noticed Katrina freeze when she saw us, and Mara stiffened a little, so I squeezed her hand firmly, and carried on walking. _Just walk. Just get past them, and no one needs to start shouting. _

"What is your _problem_?" Katrina's friend said loudly as we were walking past. I sighed, knowing that this would happen sometime soon. _But why did it have to be NOW?_

"What?" I replied, slightly irritated. The girl's eyes shifted between me and Mara, glaring.

"You lead Katrina on like that, and then a day later you're with someone else? Jesus, Jerome...get some standards!"

"Look, can you just leave us alone?"

"I'm just making sure your new girl knows what you're like."

"Excuse me?" said Mara, looking visibly angry. "You don't know me, and you don't know Jerome, so stay out of our relationship!"

I had so much respect for Mara at that moment. A few weeks ago she wouldn't have dared to stand up to someone like that, but she'd grown in confidence. She'd learnt that it wasn't essential to constantly please people...

"I know that he's a scumbag! Katrina would do _anything _for a guy she likes, and he led her on, and then dumped her a few days later! This is just going to be the same!"

I looked at Katrina, who was looking away awkwardly, not meeting my eyes. I wondered if she ever got much say in conversations like this. She hadn't even said a word.

"Look," I said firmly. "Think what you want about me, but don't even think about saying a bad word about Mara. I'm not going to lead her on and end it, this is different."

"Why?"

"Because I'm in love with her."

There was a silence, and although around our little group the world was moving on as normal, it felt like time had frozen. Katrina glanced at me, looking slightly saddened. Her friend looked shocked, the force of her glare slightly reduced. I was stunned myself. _You just admitted to her that you love her. She'll think it's too soon, she'll realise you like her way more than she likes you. _I was still holding onto her hand, and I risked a glance at her. For some reason, she was smiling.

"Really?" she whispered, only just audible. I couldn't summon up the courage to speak, so I just nodded, biting my lip nervously. "Because I do too. Love you, I mean."

I found myself grinning widely, adrenaline surging through my body. The moment would have been amazing if not for Katrina and friends still staring at us.

"Let's go," I said to Mara, still grinning. I placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in close to me, and I kissed her forehead as we walked away.

We'd reached the end of the corridor, when an afterthought occurred.

"Hold on a second," I said to her, before running back towards the three girls.

"Katrina?" I asked, and she looked up at me in surprise. "Is it true that you'd do anything for a guy you like?"

She looked slightly taken aback, shrugged her shoulders slightly, and then nodded.

"Have you ever met Mick Campbell?"

**Mara POV**

"I still think it was a bad idea," I said at lunch.

"No, It'll all work out. It won't exactly last, and at least _she _may learn to stop attatching herself to guys too easily, and he'll wind up once again rejected and humiliated. It's a win win."

I laughed at the thought.

"Wouldn't Amber want to get back together with him?"

"Not if Alfie can help it..."

I paused, contemplating the idea of Amber and Alfie as a couple. Surprisingly it worked.

I'd been buzzing all morning. Jerome had said that he loved me. That he was _in _love with me. Mick hadn't ever said that, and although we'd only been together a short amount of time, I knew that Jerome really meant it. I'd never actually thought about whether or not I was in love with Jerome. It seemed strange to contemplate something so huge at this point in my life, but when the words had come out from his mouth...I knew that I did. I really did. I, Mara Jaffray, was in love with Jerome Clarke...and it was the most natural and exhilarating feeling I'd ever experienced.

"What?" he said, looking slightly amused, and I shook my head in surprise, realising that I'd been staring at him blankly.

"Nothing, I'm just happy, that's all."

"About what?"

If we hadn't been together, I would have blushed and changed the subject, but now I didn't need to. I just simply leant forward in my seat and kissed him lightly. He smiled slightly.

"I see..." he said, and I couldn't help but laugh.

The rest of the day passed in a somewhat happy blur. Amber squealed every time she saw us holding hands or walking to class together, Mick was still glaring but it had stopped getting on my nerves, and the only other time we walked passed Katrina's friend, she didn't start another scene.

When Jerome and I were walking back to the house, he stopped me, drawing me in for a long, lingering kiss. I kissed him back eagerly, wrapping my arms around his neck as he wrapped his around my waist, pulling me in close so my body was pressed up against his.

"Mara..." he murmured, pulling away slightly and pressing his forehead against mine. "You want to go out tonight? Properly?"

I grinned.

"That would be perfect," I said, and then laughed at his raised eyebrow. "I mean, that would be incredibly amazing, though not perfect, because of course nothing can be perfect, as you've taught me..."

He laughed, and wrapped his arms around my waist a little tighter.

"Well, I may have made a _slight _error..."

"How so?"

"Tonight will most _definitely _be perfect"

I smiled.

"And you know what else?" he continued. "To me, Mara Jaffray, _you're _perfect as well. And you always will be."

And I realised that however much I'd strived to be perfect before, what I'd been aiming for was nowhere close to perfection. Right now, with Jerome in my arms saying all these wonderful things that I knew were true..._that _was what perfect should be like. And I knew that I didn't have to hurt myself or push myself too far to get it, because now I didn't want to be anything or anyone else. Now I was happy, and I knew that it was going to last.

Right now, my life was as perfect as it needed to be, and that was all I could ever want.

**Helloo :)**

**I am afraid, kind people, that is the end :( I shall very much miss this story, though I feel I shall have to leave it here, as any additional chapters would probably be very badly written and not have many decent ideas to base them on. However, I shall most definitely be writing another Jara story in the nearish future :) I may try something different, as I don't want to be recycling ideas...**

**But thank you so much to all you lovely reviewers, you've made me so happy with all your lovely comments :)**

**Big love!**

**xxxxxx**


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